100 Ways to Succeed #164:

Excellence. Always.
If Not Excellence, What?
If Not Excellence Now, When?

I’m here because of Excellence.
That is, back in 1982 I co-wrote a book called In Search of Excellence.
A lot of people were kind enough to buy it.
And I’ve been “talking Excellence” for the subsequent 27 years.

(NB: Never write the word “Excellence” without capitalizing the “E.” This I command—not that I have the power to do so.)

I love “Excellence”—and not just because it paid for the farm I bought in Vermont in 1984.

I love EXCELLENCE—truth is, I think you should capitalize all the letters—because Excellence is soooooo Cool. (Cap “C.”)

It’s so cool.
It’s so heartening.
It’s so soaring & inspiring.
It’s so worth getting out of bed for.
(Even in the winter in Vermont.)
It’s so healthy.
It’s so helpful to others.
(The striving more than the arriving.)
It’s so good for your morale—even on the shittiest of days.
(Especially on the shittiest of days.)

Book tour driver Bill Young says:

“Strive for excellence. Ignore success.”

TP: Amen. (Love it!)

Anon.* says:

“Excellence can be obtained if you:

… care more than others think is wise;
… risk more than others think is safe;
… dream more than others think is practical;
… expect more than others think is possible.”

(*Posted by K. Sriram @ tompeters.com.)

TP: Amen. (Love it!)

Asked how long it took to achieve Excellence, IBM’s legendary boss Tom Watson is said to have answered more or less as follows: “A minute. You ‘achieve’ Excellence* by promising yourself right now that you’ll never again knowingly do anything that’s not Excellent—regardless of any pressure to do otherwise by any boss or situation.”

(*I don’t really know whether or not Watson insisted on the Cap “E”—from what I know, I wouldn’t be surprised. I do know he loved the word.)

TP: Amen. (Love it!)

Regardless of the location (China, Lithuania, Miami) or industry (health care, fast food), I title all of my presentations:

Excellence. Always.
If Not Excellence, What?
If Not Excellence Now, When?

I hate the word “motivation”—surely I’ve told you that before.
I hate it because the idea of me “motivating” you is so outrageous—and arrogant.
To state the obvious, only you can motivate you.
What I can do (as boss or even “guru”) is to Paint Portraits of Excellence.
And then we can imagine ourselves in those portraits—in Pursuit of Excellence.
“Pursuit”: Excellence is not a “goal”—it’s the way we live (remember Mr Watson of IBM).

Excellence. Always.
If Not Excellence, What?
If Not Excellence Now, When?