WHO has Organizational Excellence?
We spend about 1/3 of our time during our working years … at work. The organizations we work in run the gamut from Outstanding to Horrific. If it’s close to the latter, you may dread Sunday night and Monday morning. But … who are/have been the great ones? There are examples in every niche of life. Here are a few of them:
Sports:
Basketball –
- Harlem Globetrotters – Forever and ever
- Olympics – US Men; US Women
- NBA – Celtics, Lakers, Bulls, and Warriors over different stretches
- College – Tennessee Women, UCLA Men, UConn Women
Football –
- NFL – Packers, Steelers, 49ers, Cowboys, and Patriots over different stretches
- College – Alabama, others briefly
Hockey – NHL – Montreal and Detroit
Soccer/World Cup – Brazil, Italy, and Germany over time
Local Governments:
- Fort Collins, CO
- Prince William Co, VA
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
Federal Government:
- U.S. Coast Guard
- NASA
- HHS
Private sector/Commercial:
- Chick-Fil-A
- USAA
- Ritz Carlton
- LL Bean
- Subaru
So … why this list? Because there ARE examples of organizations that have achieved and sustained excellence. But … it doesn’t last forever. What can we learn from them – individually and collectively?
There is no “magic pill”. But … I believe that those who commit to a long-term view and are driven by an inspiring vision and set of values have a good chance.
We use an 8 piece puzzle to describe the Framework of Organizational Excellence. That includes assessing, training, guiding, and measuring your progress. In the early stages, I hope you benchmark others and use what you can. As your “excellence” becomes known, the script flips and you get benchmarked (a simple indicator about your organization’s reputation).
Please share any thoughts about the lists and your experiences.
This is what we do. We’d love to be your guide in this journey.
