Tom Peters' Excellence Always



Tom Peters

One of Tom Peters’ well known phrases is Excellence Always. You know who Tom Peters is, right? For those who haven’t heard of him, he is the Excellence guru and author of quite a few books on personal and organizational excellence. One of his most famous books is In Search of EXCELLENCE: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies. One of his more recent books is The Little BIG Things. I promise you that any publication by Tom Peters is worth your time and money to have and study. He recently published an interesting article in the November issue of Leadership Excellence, titled Excellence Always. I will use this post to discuss this article and the subject of providing excellent service.

Peters begins his article with the thought provoking idea that many leaders in our society have adopted. It is the concept that we cannot and perhaps should not pursue excellence in everything we do. The argument they make is that with the work overload we all experience daily, if we try to do everything excellently we would never survive or be very successful in our jobs. The thinking is premised on the idea that to excel in everything is to excel in nothing and that some things are just not worth doing excellently. “Just getting through the next hour is challenge enough”, as Peters quotes a work-at-home mom as saying.


Peters agrees, as I do, with the seemingly never ending in-box challenge that we all face in our jobs. It can be very over whelming and disconcerting to say the least. I use to say it was like drinking water out of a fire hydrant. Yet, neither Peters nor I are “ready to throw in the towel” and “throw excellence out of the window." Peters puts it all in perspective when he asks, “if not excellence, then what? If not excellence now, when? Excellence is not an aspiration; Excellence is the next five minutes.”  Man, I love that statement! Believing that you are too busy to be excellent is a recipe for mediocrity and an unfulfilling career. If leadership were easy then everyone would be doing it. I say leaderup or get a job stocking shelves at Wal-Mart!


What do you think Peters means when he states, “Excellence is not an aspiration - Excellence is the next five minutes?” To me it means that excellence is not a destination or an end goal, but rather a continuous, immediate and difficult journey. It is a journey where you never arrive. To use a sports analogy, you are no better than your last game. We never arrive at excellence because as long as we are breathing, living and engaged the “next five minutes” is always just ahead of us. With it arrives there is another opportunity to choose between excellence and mediocrity. So you see excellence is not a sometime thing, it is truly an always things. The opportunity to choose excellence or to dismiss it is always there.


If we make exceptions to excellence and choose mediocrity, overtime our exceptions and easy choices become habitual, ingrained and our way of life. It becomes who and what we are. What we have become, our very character. Whether we choose excellence or mediocrity we must wear its outward markings as badge of honor or as a scarlet letter. The choice is always ours and it is always present. I hope you will choose a life premised upon excellence. Be excellent and survive five minutes at a time.


As leaders we should all strive diligently to develop personal excellence as an example to others. We usually do not accomplish this doing great and important things. Modeling excellence is more often accomplished in the small and mundane duties. Peters quotes Helen Keller who sublimely said, “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as thought they were great and noble.” Mother Teresa also stated that “We do no great things, only small things with great love.” Pretty good stuff, huh!


Peters also mentions the Football Hall of Famer and San Francisco 49ers’ coach Bill Walsh along with World War II General George Patton as examples of how success is found in the way small things are habitually done excellently. When Bill Walsh took command of the pitiful 49ers he began by creating a culture of excellence in his organization. The point Walsh makes in his book, The Score Takes Care of Itself, is that “the culture and preparation, finished before the opening kickoff, determine success or failure.” Bill Walsh’s goal was to establish 24/7 habits of excellence with his team. He did and turned a losing team into Super Bowl champions. It was a combination of many small things such as seemingly insignificant rule requiring proper attire while traveling with the team to name one. Pride in appears was one factor that led to pride in on-field performance.


General Patton, upon accepting command of his army in Europe, began with enforcing rules of better hygiene and the wearing of clean and sharp uniforms by his soldiers when possible. He turned a ragtag army around as they began winning battles and moving across Europe with lighting speed. Excellence and pride in appearance was a means to excellence and pride on the battlefield. Peters correctly points out that just as “the devil is in the details, so too is excellence.” Be excellent in all things and the score and the battle will take care of itself!


I will close with this comment by Tom Peters. “Anyone who takes on any leadership job, minor or major, assumes a Sacred Trust to practice Excellence Always.” Chose excellence in all of the “five minutes” of your life and wear the badge of honor with great pride. You will have earned it!


Leaderup and have a great and safe week!

Esse Quam Videri!

Carpe Diem

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