Meeting the Challenge of Excellence – Introduction

Posted July 10th, 2009

This book is a work in progress, since 2005. Look under “Excellence Book” for more entries.  One of my 2009 goals is to complete the book by October 1, 2009

Mediocrity is going to kill the world before Armageddon ever does. Emmy Lou Harris

Every human resides somewhere between mediocrity and excellence: a constant struggle. Because humans create organizations, organizations have the same constant struggle. Excellence begins with the individual, and organizations reflect the sum total of the individuals in the organization. While no one can be excellent at all times in all ways, we can be excellent at important times by practicing what matters. Practicing what matters is my mantra. While plenty of things matter, I believe that performance, learning, excellence, nurture, thinking, and you always matter. The more excellent the quality of our practice, the more excellent we will become. The first step is when a person decides to pursue excellence. Will you decide to meet the challenge of excellence? The choice is up to you.

The purpose of this book is to provide practical and useful information that individuals and groups can use in meeting the challenge of excellence. While there is no requirement that anyone accept the challenge, the emphasis is on individual commitment to excellence. I passionately believe it is possible for every one of us to meet the challenge of excellence. Let us begin with that belief and the commitment to learn from the contents of the book. This might require the strength to change one’s mind. We want to be strong, unlike a character in Of Human Bondage, who the author described in this way: “Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one’s mind.”

Just as we should recognize that the world around us changes continually, we also should recognize that the spheres of life and work have certain expectations for levels of performance. Those expectations can change rapidly and catch us at our most mediocre moments. In order to meet those expectations, one should commit to purposeful living and lifelong learning. We need to learn and relearn the ongoing standards of performances for ourselves. When we set our standards high and aim for excellence, we will exceed expectations and satisfy ourselves. This will likely be satisfying to others, too.

Our personal belief and values systems enable us to face and meet the challenge of excellence. If we believe we can, we will. It is important to commit to action when faced with any challenge. The challenge can be either professional or personal. After we commit, we can create structures, mold behaviors, develop habits, and sustain patterns that enable us to meet any new challenge, Organizational structures and systems and processes may sometimes hinder excellence. Sometimes we may want to use those organizational flaws as an excuse. Even if an organization is not perfect, people are never powerless. Committed individuals and small groups can always take powerful steps to address mediocrity, even in the largest organization.

We are all in this world together, connected to one another in meaningful ways. Interdependence is important in society and in the workplace. People seek connections with one another through dialogue and conversations about family, hobbies, spiritual matters, sports, politics, and just about anything else that interests them. Often, we emphasize differences rather than similarities. We argue or fight about those differences, seeking to convert others to our particular view.

This collision of cultures can hinder excellence and make the challenge more challenging. An argumentative and adversarial culture is not the best way to meet the challenge of excellence. Relatively simple ways exist to create a culture that values teamwork, fosters learning, and aligns performance to achieve excellent results. We will enjoy our work much more as we connect, collaborate, and cooperate! These things require a choice on our part. Choose the more excellent way.

Be sure to aim at excellence, in order to surpass mediocrity. Aim high and aspire to excellence. At www.despair.com, there is a Demotivators® collection that celebrates mediocrity by saying, “It takes a lot less time and most people won’t notice the difference until it’s too late.” I prefer to aim at excellence, agreeing with what is written at www.successories.com: “Excellence is never an accident; it is the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, skillful execution and the vision to see obstacles as opportunities.” We know when we achieve excellence. Let’s not provide mediocrity an opportunity to kill the world.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 10th, 2009 at 2:15 pm and is filed under Excellence Book.