Why is Tom Peters cool now?  He’s just come out with a new book, The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE, which is a compendium of over a hundred bright ideas for making your business better, from clean rest rooms to sending flowers to nudging people to (of course) excellence to green businesses to connecting and making it personal – you get the idea.  The book is like one of Peters’ rants; there’s no plot, just loads of great ideas one after another spilling out of the book like they spill out of the man when he’s speaking.  You can study him here: http://www.tompeters.com/.  The site has all things Tom and includes plenty of video.  As a speaker, of course, Tom’s passion shows up as a high-energy rant; I don’t recommend trying to imitate him, because only he gets it right.  He is, and should be, unique. 

What makes Peters keep going is his passion for getting it right, and that passion seems unabated a generation on from the publication of his defining classic, In Search of Excellence, still a great read and still relevant.  The guy is a phenom and well worth the price of admission, whether it’s for the books, or a speech, or just a visit to the website.  Peters should be on everyone’s guru short list – and a source of inspiration in your day-to-day work.