Chasing Excellence's Tail

The other day, I saw a car commercial on TV. The Car? LEXUS. Their U.S.P. (unique selling point)...The Pursuit of Excellence. It got me to thinking about...

WHAT IS EXCELLENCE?

FreeDictionary.com defines excellence as: ex·cel·lence (ks-lns)n. 1. The state, quality, or condition of excelling; superiority. 2. Something in which one excels.

If we focus on the sub-definition of excellence as, Superiority, we begin to boil down this ocean of this massive word. I Am Excellent --does this mean that I Am Superior? Of course it does. But superior to what?

Students of Encouraging-People and/or Personal Development, would suggest that Human Beings strive to be a Superior Self in relation to who and what we were previously (i.e. yesterday, last week/year, a few moments ago).

A WISH TO HAVE EXCELLENCE

Career-minded persons focus upon their weaknesses rather than strengths in order to achieve excellence. Going back to our sub-definition, superiority; we have now elevated Excellence into Superiority into Nirvana. Let's call this, 'The Nirvana-Effect.' With your career, we want excellence via achieving this Nirvana-Effect.

My salary is adequate...UNTIL, I find out that my co-worker earns $0.25 cents per hour more than do I. No way, I'm better worker than is she. I deserve more than...I Am Superior -- I Want to have Nirvana.

EXCELLENCE HAS ITS PLACE

In another life, I was a Grocery Store Manager.  After having completed a career as a military soldier, I believed that I could achieve excellence within Any occupational field. But the grocery business presented a unique set of challenges for me.

Putting things into perspective, the Store Director asked me to accompany her through a walk of the store aisles. She asked, "What do you see?"

 I responded with, 'Shelves filled with cans of food...' "WRONG ANSWER," she quiped!

Madam Store Director then began a systematic and detailed analysis of the state and condition of each aisle of my department. She magnified the placement of the cans on the shelf. She correlated the brand category of the aisles' designation with relation to store ROI -- P&L (retail accounting buzz words...not really important for this discussion).

Boiling down her commentary, the effect was her perception of excellence. Craftsmanship...

CRAFTSMANSHIP = EXCELLENCE

This Store Director said that my department did not display Craftsmanship (a.k.a. Excellence). "When Bill, in the Meat market department, is on duty, his department displays Craftsmanship. I'm not seeing this with your department."

This experience taught me one thing -- and that is this. Excellence equals Craftsmanship!

My pursuit of excellence (a.k.a. Craftsmanship) has been ongoing ever sense (10 years). However, facing my 51st birthday (January 24, 2011), I'm seeing that Excellence is elusive. A Wild Tiger. A Greased Pig. A Pollo Loco. A Cat with her tail on fire.

HAPPINESS is EXCELLENCE is CRAFTSMANSHIP (aren't all the same)

The other day, my paycheck was SKINNY! As a commissioned sales consultant, compensation is somewhat feast or famine. This skinny paycheck led to a degree of stress in my household. I began to feel unhappy.

After a considerable amount of time, I began to recognize what was going on. I had allowed my paycheck to determine my level of happiness in the moment. Further analysis suggested that I had begun to equate my personal happiness with a direct relationship to the income received. How Sad!

Returning to the concept of Craftsmanship, I'm reminded of the Shakespearian quote, Beauty is in the Eyes of the Beholder. My old Store Director did not see craftsmanship with her trained eye. I believed that I had achieved Excellence because I had put in 12 hours of WorkingmyA..off. Hard work, True Grit, and persistence doesn't spell excellence nor craftsmanship.

DO YOU WANT MORE EXCELLENCE?

However you define Excellence, you and I want to have more of it. Excellence is having a 50 inch plasma television with High-Definition HD. Excellence is not only having a job, but having a career wherein I make $0.25 more per hour more than the fella in the next cubicle. Here's the rub. Until I am able to really define Excellence (a.k.a., what it is that I want), I'm not gonna get excellence.

Of course, I want to make more money. And yes, I want to have a Job plus benefits plus a beautiful PUPPY (gotcha). Yet Excellence and Craftsmanship and Happiness, are not Me -- the words don't define me. These 3 words, are simply words. I am as I am -- in the moment.

"To Infinity and Beyond!" exclaimed Toy Story's Buzz. Profound words, indeed.