dispatches from the new world of work

X06: More Later

Getting ready for tomorrow's seminar with John Laing Homes in Costa Mesa. These folks clearly set the standard for Excellence in home-building—though at the moment they have their hands full with the implosion of the housing market. Thinking about them got me thinking about Excellence in general, and a list I put together in 2004 of "companies-organizations I love." (And even a couple of people fitting that same description.) I pruned a few and added a few, and you'll see the result, "X.06," below. My "excellence criteria": "I know it when I see it." (Take it or leave it. Your choice.) (A couple of entries are in parentheses ( ); they screwed up—but there is still much to learn from their glory days.) (A few are "obvious," such as Starbucks & Apple—can't be helped; most, however, are other than the "usual suspects," which is part of the point of the exercise.) The first paragraph below is the list. The second is the list with dominant excellence attributes in parentheses. And paragraph three is an extracted set of success factors.

X.06/List: Whole Foods Market ... Starbucks ... Wegmans ... Commerce Bank ... Apple ... London Drugs ... Griffin Hospital/Planetree Alliance ... The Met School/Big Picture ... Carl Sewell ... Progressive Insurance ... Stanford women's sports ... Stanford D-School ... HSM ... Washington Speakers Bureau ... Build-A-Bear ... RE/MAX ... Donnelly's Weather Strip Service ... Jim's Group ... Cirque du Soleil ... U.S. Grant ... Horatio Nelson ... (Stew Leonard's) ... (DeMar Plumbing)

X.06/Success Factors: Whole Foods Markets (high-end, experience-design, demographic) ... Starbucks (people, experience) ... Wegmans (people) ... Commerce Bank (nuts about customers, WOW, people, execution) ... Apple (design-experience, breakthrough, "virus management," resilience, talent, "seriously cool") ... London Drugs (design-experience, people, "solutions") ... Griffin Hospital/Planetree Alliance (customer-centric, "whole person") ... The Met School/Big Picture (engagement, self-control) ... Carl Sewell (experience!) ... Progressive Insurance (speed, IT) ... Stanford women's sports (demographic, Blue Ocean) ... Stanford D-School (design-biz-engineering, Blue Ocean) ... HSM (execution, experience) ... WSB (integrity, broad view of customers, execution) ... Build-A-Bear (experience) ... RE/MAX (people/"create success stories") ... Donnelly's Weather Strip Service (high end, execution-reliability, simply the best) ... Jim's Group (imagination-Blue Ocean, demographic, customer-centric) ... Cirque du Soleil (talent, R&D, Imagination, resilience, design-experience, partnering) ... (U.S. Grant/execution, delegation, people, K.I.S.S., action-at-all-costs, win, bold ) ... (Horatio Nelson/execution, delegation, people, K.I.S.S., action-at-all-costs, win, bold) ... (Stew Leonard's/people, experience-design, Wow) ... (DeMar Plumbing/experience, people, Blue Ocean)

High end.
Experience.
Design.
Crazy for customers!
Crazy for Patients! ("Whole person").
Wow!
People first, second, third.
Breakthrough or bust.
"Seriously cool."
"Virus management."
Resilience.
Tippy-top talent.
"Solutions," not "just" "satisfaction."
Engagement.
Self-control. (Customer/Patient/Student control.)
Blue Ocean.
"Mundane stuff" made great.
Great demographic.
The best. Period.
Effective partnering.
K.I.S.S.
Play to win. (Offense > Defense.)
Bold!
Action! Always!
Integrity-as-strategy.

You could call this "success factors," "contributors to excellence" list a "laundry list" too general to be helpful. I agree to some extent. On the other hand, I think there is a commonality or three worthy of mention:

Focused on growth and revenue and "offense," not defense and cost containment.
People-talent.
Provide mind-bending experiences. (Driven by design primacy.)
Nuts about customers.
Happy to use words like "Wow."
Pretty close to the high end of the market.
(Ability to make silk purses filled with gold out of sows' ears: Wegmans-Whole Foods-Stew Leonard's and groceries; Jim's Group and dog-walking; Donnelly and weatherstrip installation; DeMar and plumbing.)

As to the "more later" in the title of the Post, 2007 is the 25th anniversary of In Search of Excellence—and my mind is very much pre-occupied with Excellence these days. ("Excellence": One Very Cool Word! Whoopee!)

Tom Peters posted this on 12/04/06.

Comments

Crazy for Patients! - Brilliant!! - I love that!

Can't wait to tell all my ex NHS bosses - I knew I was right all along - and they just thought it was me who was 'crazy' :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 4, 2006 5:00 PM

Great list of companies, great list of success factors/attributes. Interesting that "high end" is one of them. I'm trying to think about whether there are "low end" ventures - i.e.,companies that provide products to a different demographic - that could also qualify as excellent.(WalMart? Dunkin Donuts - which seems less class-bound in its appeal than Starbucks?) Or would they, in general, not be able to afford the "luxury" of good design, or attract "tippy top" employees, etc. unless they're non-profits? (I can come up with some local non-profit examples that seem to fit the qualifications.) Does the drive for race-to-the-bottom pricing at the low end pretty much drive most everything else out of consideration. Anyway, your post has got me thinking.

Posted by Maureen Rogers at December 4, 2006 9:55 PM

- Mareen,

Micro lending is about as innovative, creative, and WOW as you can get. And it is about as low on the "low end" you can go isn't it?

Posted by Greg at December 5, 2006 1:00 PM

Greg - Thanks. Micro lending is a good example, and I can think of a number of non-profits that fit the excellence bill. I'm involved with a homeless shelter that definitely does. I'm still curious about low-end for profit ventures, and whether there are any/many examples of excellence. Target seems to have both price and decent design going for them, but I don't know much about their structure/financials/operations. What about lower end retail chains, hotels, clothing stores, restaurants that produce lower end products, for a less affluent clientele, that are also examples of excellence. Interesting to think about, but I need some help here!

Posted by Maureen Rogers at December 5, 2006 10:27 PM

I heard this quote tonight (in a Dave Ramsey class on careers .. I think his company could qualify for the excellence list).

This quote is excellent on many levels.
--

I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon, if I can.

I seek opportunity, not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.

I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the gauranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale clam of utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.

It is my hertiage to stand erect, proud, and unafraid; to think and act for myself, enjoy the benefits of my creations and face the world boldly and say: This I have done.

Dean Alfange

Posted by Stephen at December 7, 2006 10:18 PM

From this discussion I can see that there is a place for lower end market excellence. For example someone who was down-sized and needs housing or even getting their car fixed. What about someone just out of prison trying to get back one his/her feet? Some one in a position to help needs to know the system to secure solutions in a timely fashion and not give these folks the run around. They may even need help in reworking problem solving systems that were a help to them in the past but no longer work today.
Does someone really need a 5,000 sq. ft. house or more to be comfortable? Does someone really need a six figure income to be really secure? When is enough enough? I think the answer is being comfortable in the shoes you are wearing, with a nagging desire make it a little better.

Posted by Mike at December 10, 2006 1:13 PM