Ecstasy of Excellence
“When you have a true passion for excellence, and when you act on it, you stand straighter. You will look people in the eye. You will see things happen. You will see heroes created, watch ideas unfold and take shape.”
Tom Peters
“I’ve been thinking recently…” about excellence. The older I get, the more passionate I’ve become about the pursuit of excellence. I’m talking hard core, non-complacent, rattle the status quo kind of quest for excellence.
Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyewski said, “My hunger is not for success, it is for excellence. Because when you attain excellence, success just naturally follows.” I LOVE that comment.
The opposite pursuit would be mediocrity (the best of the worst or the worst of the best) and I’m becoming increasingly discontent with that outcome. In fact, anything less than excellent should be proclaimed unacceptable, an enemy, an outrage. Mediocrity in business, personal interests, social life, physical health and spiritual well-being should be abhorred. Good enough no longer is.
Think about this. . . Average, mediocrity or good enough is as close to the bottom and it is to the top. Scary isn’t it.
H.L. Mencken, the long-time editor of the famous American Mercury magazine, entered the office and shouted to his employees, “It’s coming in the doors!” Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked quizzically at their boss.
“It’s up to the bottom of the desk! It’s up to the seats of our chairs.”
“What are you talking about?” asked one of his confused colleagues.
“It’s all around us. Now, it’s to the top of our desks,” shouted Mencken as he jumped to the top of his desk.
“What do you mean?” inquired the newsroom staff.
“Mediocrity. We’re drowning in mediocrity?” Mencken shouted as he jumped from his desk and exited never to return.
Eccentric? Maybe. Overly critical? Possibly. Is there a message? Definitely!
Ask yourself this question: In what areas of my life have I accepted less than excellent outcomes? Don’t sugarcoat your response. Be honest. Where have I taken shortcuts that resulted in less than excellent performance and done nothing to improve upon the results? Have I been content with low standards? What would happen if you committed yourself to constant and never-ending improvement in all areas of your life?
A.W. Tozer offered a valuable antidote to mediocrity when he said, “let your heart soar as high as it will. Refuse to be average.” We normally get what we are willing to accept. Tozer’s admonition to “let your heart soar” sets the stage for performance and results that extend well beyond mediocrity. If you don’t set a minimum standard for what you’ll accept in life, you’ll find it’s easy to slip into a lifestyle and attitudes far below what you deserve or desire.
Entertain these enduring excellence entities to enter the ecstasy of excellence (sorry, I got carried away with the ‘e’ words):
1. Commit Yourself to a Lifestyle of Excellence
“The quality of a person’s life,” said Vince Lombardi, “is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” Seek to excel yourself. Compete today with what you accomplished yesterday. Even if something isn’t broken, keep working on it to make it better. Never stop developing…growing…learning…improving. Never excuse yourself from pursuing a higher standard than anyone expects of you. When you feel a compelling, constant, intense desire to do everything in your life as well as it can be done, you will touch the borders of excellence.
2. Be Willing to Pay the Price
Excellence in any endeavor is not automatic. As Dr. Stephen Covey says, “real excellence does not come cheaply. A certain price must be paid in terms of practice, patience and persistence – natural ability not withstanding.” Excellence will no doubt require you to go far beyond the call of duty. Set a higher standard and never waver in your pursuit to attain it. That is what excellence is all about. You’ll never excel by taking shortcuts or doing only what is required. The demanding price paid is well worth the results experienced.
3. Exceed Expectations
Somebody once said the key to avoiding disappointment is to set low expectations. There’s a profound thought for you. A culture of mediocrity is quickly created by those who excuse themselves for expecting and giving less than their best.
Don’t settle for average. Challenge yourself to exceed self-imposed and other-imposed limitations. Go a step beyond the customary or ordinary. Bishop Gore said: “God does not want us to do extraordinary things; he wants us to do ordinary things extraordinarily well.” Excellence can simply be doing your very best. In everything. In everyway. In every situation.
I understand that Smuckers, the jelly and jam maker, has a policy of filling its containers with more product than the official weight indicates. It doesn’t matter whether the consumer weighs their jar of jam or not. What is important is that Smuckers is committed to do more than they are required to do.
4. Never Settle for Good Enough
Former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, asked an aid to prepare a report. The aid worked day and night to analyze the information and complete his report. Shortly after receiving the finished product, Mr. Kissinger returned it to his aid with a note: Redo it.”
The aid diligently went about his task, turned it in and again was told to redo it.
After the third time the aid asked to see Kissinger. “I have completed this report three times,” he said, “and this is the best job I can do.”
Kissinger replied, “In that case, I’ll read it now.”
The rising tide of mediocrity (settling for good enough) threatens personal and organizational performance. In fact, most ailing and failing organizations have developed a functional blindness to mediocrity. If you can’t see it, you can deny that it was ever there. On the other hand, optimum performers live, breathe and exude a message of continual improvement day in and day out. They may be touched by the rising tide but never consumed by it.
As you pursue the ecstasy of excellence, let Walt Disney’s thoughts challenge you every day. He said, “Do what you so well that those who see you do what you do are going to come back to see you do it again and tell others that they should see what you do.”
Excellence has nothing to do with talent, personality, conditions or luck. Excellence is a choice; a conscious decision to create your own daily “Wows”. Wow yourself.
“When you have a true passion for excellence, and when you act on it, you stand straighter. You will look people in the eye. You will see things happen. You will see heroes created, watch ideas unfold and take shape.”
Tom Peters
“I’ve been thinking recently…” about excellence. The older I get, the more passionate I’ve become about the pursuit of excellence. I’m talking hard core, non-complacent, rattle the status quo kind of quest for excellence.
Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyewski said, “My hunger is not for success, it is for excellence. Because when you attain excellence, success just naturally follows.” I LOVE that comment.
The opposite pursuit would be mediocrity (the best of the worst or the worst of the best) and I’m becoming increasingly discontent with that outcome. In fact, anything less than excellent should be proclaimed unacceptable, an enemy, an outrage. Mediocrity in business, personal interests, social life, physical health and spiritual well-being should be abhorred. Good enough no longer is.
Think about this. . . Average, mediocrity or good enough is as close to the bottom and it is to the top. Scary isn’t it.
H.L. Mencken, the long-time editor of the famous American Mercury magazine, entered the office and shouted to his employees, “It’s coming in the doors!” Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked quizzically at their boss.
“It’s up to the bottom of the desk! It’s up to the seats of our chairs.”
“What are you talking about?” asked one of his confused colleagues.
“It’s all around us. Now, it’s to the top of our desks,” shouted Mencken as he jumped to the top of his desk.
“What do you mean?” inquired the newsroom staff.
“Mediocrity. We’re drowning in mediocrity?” Mencken shouted as he jumped from his desk and exited never to return.
Eccentric? Maybe. Overly critical? Possibly. Is there a message? Definitely!
Ask yourself this question: In what areas of my life have I accepted less than excellent outcomes? Don’t sugarcoat your response. Be honest. Where have I taken shortcuts that resulted in less than excellent performance and done nothing to improve upon the results? Have I been content with low standards? What would happen if you committed yourself to constant and never-ending improvement in all areas of your life?
A.W. Tozer offered a valuable antidote to mediocrity when he said, “let your heart soar as high as it will. Refuse to be average.” We normally get what we are willing to accept. Tozer’s admonition to “let your heart soar” sets the stage for performance and results that extend well beyond mediocrity. If you don’t set a minimum standard for what you’ll accept in life, you’ll find it’s easy to slip into a lifestyle and attitudes far below what you deserve or desire.
Entertain these enduring excellence entities to enter the ecstasy of excellence (sorry, I got carried away with the ‘e’ words):
1. Commit Yourself to a Lifestyle of Excellence
“The quality of a person’s life,” said Vince Lombardi, “is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.” Seek to excel yourself. Compete today with what you accomplished yesterday. Even if something isn’t broken, keep working on it to make it better. Never stop developing…growing…learning…improving. Never excuse yourself from pursuing a higher standard than anyone expects of you. When you feel a compelling, constant, intense desire to do everything in your life as well as it can be done, you will touch the borders of excellence.
2. Be Willing to Pay the Price
Excellence in any endeavor is not automatic. As Dr. Stephen Covey says, “real excellence does not come cheaply. A certain price must be paid in terms of practice, patience and persistence – natural ability not withstanding.” Excellence will no doubt require you to go far beyond the call of duty. Set a higher standard and never waver in your pursuit to attain it. That is what excellence is all about. You’ll never excel by taking shortcuts or doing only what is required. The demanding price paid is well worth the results experienced.
3. Exceed Expectations
Somebody once said the key to avoiding disappointment is to set low expectations. There’s a profound thought for you. A culture of mediocrity is quickly created by those who excuse themselves for expecting and giving less than their best.
Don’t settle for average. Challenge yourself to exceed self-imposed and other-imposed limitations. Go a step beyond the customary or ordinary. Bishop Gore said: “God does not want us to do extraordinary things; he wants us to do ordinary things extraordinarily well.” Excellence can simply be doing your very best. In everything. In everyway. In every situation.
I understand that Smuckers, the jelly and jam maker, has a policy of filling its containers with more product than the official weight indicates. It doesn’t matter whether the consumer weighs their jar of jam or not. What is important is that Smuckers is committed to do more than they are required to do.
4. Never Settle for Good Enough
Former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, asked an aid to prepare a report. The aid worked day and night to analyze the information and complete his report. Shortly after receiving the finished product, Mr. Kissinger returned it to his aid with a note: Redo it.”
The aid diligently went about his task, turned it in and again was told to redo it.
After the third time the aid asked to see Kissinger. “I have completed this report three times,” he said, “and this is the best job I can do.”
Kissinger replied, “In that case, I’ll read it now.”
The rising tide of mediocrity (settling for good enough) threatens personal and organizational performance. In fact, most ailing and failing organizations have developed a functional blindness to mediocrity. If you can’t see it, you can deny that it was ever there. On the other hand, optimum performers live, breathe and exude a message of continual improvement day in and day out. They may be touched by the rising tide but never consumed by it.
As you pursue the ecstasy of excellence, let Walt Disney’s thoughts challenge you every day. He said, “Do what you so well that those who see you do what you do are going to come back to see you do it again and tell others that they should see what you do.”
Excellence has nothing to do with talent, personality, conditions or luck. Excellence is a choice; a conscious decision to create your own daily “Wows”. Wow yourself.
