Formula for success: Underpromise and overdeliver.

The quote frames success as a discipline of expectation management and follow-through. “Underpromise” cautions against selling outcomes you cannot reliably achieve; it protects credibility by setting commitments you can meet. “Overdeliver” then urges surpassing those commitments—through quality, speed, attentiveness, or added value—so that stakeholders feel pleasantly surprised rather than merely satisfied. The combined effect is reputational compounding: trust grows when performance repeatedly exceeds stated commitments, which can translate into loyalty, referrals, and organizational resilience. Implicitly, Peters is also warning against the short-term temptation of hype; in service and leadership, durable success depends less on grand claims than on consistent execution that outperforms expectations.