Letter from Tom Peters

I was lucky enough to be honored by the Thinkers 50 last year with their lifetime achievement award. If the phrase “time of my life” had not been invented, I would have invented it on the spot. First the turnout: “Everybody was there” is only the slightest exaggeration. Stars in my field whose work I had admired and used for decades, most of whom I’d never met “F2F,” were present–by the dozen. My head was literally twirling from one old/new colleague to another.

I despise Black Tie events, and avoid them like the plague. This one was the sole exception in my life–doubtless, to be honest, enhanced by the fact that I was a principal honoree. The event felt grand, and I felt special in a way that has never happened before. One felt that “my world” [Thinkers 50 world] mattered. Somehow I was less tired from my millions of frequent flyers miles than I had been before. The 63-country slog and 80 gazillion hours at the keyboard and numerous 13th drafts of books of the last 35 years was worth. It.

(I must also admit to being a bit under the British spell–among other things I served briefly in the Royal Navy. And somehow, psychologically, having the event in London made it 10X more powerful that just-another-black-tie-affair-in-Manhattan.)

I could go on and on about the evening. But, simply, I’ll close by saying it may well have been the best and most moving evening of my life. Yes, I have a bit of a reputation for hyperbole–the FT called my most recent book “shouty.” But the above is most definitely not hyperbole!

Tom Peters
20 September 2018
South Dartmouth MA