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Excellence is beauty. It is grace from which feats are accomplished. Excellence is love. It is action. (Have you ever known anyone who loves and does not act?) Excellence is the joy and trials of that which can't be eternally held. Once one level of excellence is reached, another level arrives.

I absolutely love Thomas Watson's definition of excellence. Excellence is doing now, in the moment. I also adore these words spoken by TP: "Excellence is not some measured aspiration; it is about how we live and exist in the world." This is simply beautiful. Thanks, TP, for your continuous example in search of excellence.

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 20, 2008 8:30 PM

Shame that this the last of the videos. I think they are excellent and could be a regular and valuable addition to the site. I can imagine Tom doing a video on each of his 125 ways to succeed - would be great.

Posted by Freddie Daniells at June 21, 2008 3:01 AM

Tom, love the video, BUT, the shirt tie Combo is that of my late father made me smile also!!!!!!. Patrick

Posted by Patrick at June 21, 2008 7:40 AM

Dear God, Patrick, you are sooooooooooo right--"full grandfather." Yuck!! (Or, Oh shit!)

Posted by tom peters at June 21, 2008 8:13 AM

No buts about it, 52 years on I still revere my grandfather for his wisdom, business acheivements and .. his classic attire which never goes out of style.

Posted by Rick in VT at June 21, 2008 8:26 AM

Tom – I’m suffering from soccer withdrawal symptoms. I can’t watch my beloved Manchester United on Saturday afternoons at the moment - as it’s the close season in soccer here in England. Your video made a good substitute for five minutes on this dull and dreary Saturday afternoon in Shakespeare’s County. A brilliant talk – lets have more please … and as a fellow fashion icon (not) – the shirt and jumper are acceptable … but with a tie???!!!!!! :-)

Excellence Rules!

Posted by Trevor Gay at June 21, 2008 10:20 AM

Patrick/TP...LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL! LOL!

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 21, 2008 12:39 PM

What I find a bit ironic is that before all this
talk of excellence, Americans worked only 40
hours a week and spent more time with their
families than they did with people at work.

Posted by frank at June 21, 2008 1:26 PM

Nothing wrong with being grandfatherly, Tom. You look great. Really! Terrific clip, too...

Posted by Steve Farber at June 21, 2008 2:07 PM

Frank...you make a good point. But if one really understands excellence as a way of being, could it then have an internal sense of balance? Imbalance is not beautiful over extended periods. I've had many careers as both in business and in the arts since my early teens. My sense of excellence goes way beyond business or the arts and greatly influences my relationships of all kind, including those with my family and friends. However, generally speaking, your point is well taken. Thank you.

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 21, 2008 9:27 PM

"If not excellence, what?"

I am going to ask that question to every New Hire group I speak to or train, every meeting where we review/discuss performance, and every coaching and development session I conduct. I'm thinking there is not a better way to set the expectation or lead folks to their own knowledge than this question. What can they say...mediocrity, half assed-ness, profoundly average?

Excellence is about indeed attitude and commitment. Sometimes the obvious is...well...obvious when you think about it!

Posted by Dave Wheeler at June 22, 2008 12:41 AM

It there a price to be paid for too much of a focus on whatever excellence might mean?
It seems a bit like a religion whose goal is
only to support some sort of industry. Nothing else matters (unless of course it harms productivity - I mean, be sure to get in some quality time with your loved ones because it will make you more productive.)
Also, remember that Tom has not had to do any work since his book became a best seller. (more than twenty years ago) And he has milked every drop he could get out of that initial success.
Why are you all hanging on to every word from
someone who admittedly hit the big time due to a big dose of luck?
He has good advice, but some of these posts border on worship.

Posted by frank at June 22, 2008 9:54 AM

What a wonderful and refreshing message. It gives meaning to the idea of re-imagine. That is in the sense that excellence is not a end all be all or a destination. It's a constant pursuit of something that is larger than oneself.

That is not to think in defeatist terms, meaning you will never be excellent. But, otherwise, in the pursuit of excellence your default position will one one of great character. And, that has great meaning in both the world of business and in our world of personal relationship.

Thanks Tom.

M

Posted by Mike at June 22, 2008 10:35 AM

'Tom has not had to do any work since his book became a best seller.'

Frank - That's a joke - Yes? Seems to me Tom has probably worked harder for the last 25 years since ISOE than most of us (certainly me) who comment on this Blog. I don't ‘worship’ Tom Peters and I don’t ‘hang on his every word’ – nevertheless I respect TP for ‘giving’ all this stuff away. Some alleged 'experts' charge money to honour us with their written material (some people are crazy enough to buy it I presume). One person’s ‘milking success’ is another person desire to share. On this Blog there are always some who throw in comments to stir up the debate and that is great. Thanks for making me think seriously about why I come here so often. I disagree with you Frank but I respect your opinion of course.

Have a great Sunday!

Posted by Trevor Gay at June 22, 2008 10:49 AM

Frank...please add comments that are as brilliant, timeless, and giving and we shall "worship" you too whether you've had great successes as TP or not. Would you please?

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 22, 2008 5:19 PM

Should people become 'religious' about their pursuit of excellence? If that is the question being posed here then I say YES! If you want to truly pursue 'excellence' in everything you do then you probably have to become a 'religious nut' about it - otherwise you are going to fall way short of your aim. Excellence is a high order achievement (that is perhaps why we all easily recognise it whenever we see it and regrettably excellence is rare within business circles so that is surely the point here - which means the 'pursuit of excellence' gig is a tough one). To get anywhere near achieving excellence in design and/or execution takes enormous dollops of passion, commitment, perseverance, compassion, discipline, etc. Where Frank gets me onside is his criticism of those who shower Tom Peters with fan mail on this site. Is a degree of mindless adoration of Tom Peters required to become fully engaged in the pursuit of excellence? I do not know .... perhaps it is for some... That is an individual decision to make surely.. Each of us can and do benefit from Tom Peters posts and our contributions here - the more that is true I believe the more diversity we will see in these comments pages and thus the nearer we will be to achieving excellence in some aspect of our lives.. Frank, if you are critical of the 'group think' that sets in here at times then I am sure we all understand that point and to some degree agree with it... I do not belong to a religion - save my passion for Chattering Clusters at present - in large part because the leadership of most religions are rather more controlling than giving.. Tom Peters is a 'hard-wired engineer' and so controlling is part of parcel of him... Yet as Trevor notes Tom Peters is also very giving of free advice on this site...

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at June 22, 2008 6:07 PM

Enough already about how each of us responds to TP or anyone else on this site! Please just get to the tenet of the post or other relevant comments. How anyone decides to lavish or not lavish another is no one's business unless, of course, there is a degree of cruelity or severe lack of tack.

In the above cases, we may all be inclined to come to the assistance of another. Save these things...please...address the post! Say something thoughtful! Address each other's comment. But how anyone decides to lavish another with thanksgiving is quite frankly no one else's business. Handle yours.

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 22, 2008 7:41 PM

Yeah....what Judith said! (eloquent as always and meaning clear as crystal...thank you Ma'am!)

I'm thinking folks gather on this space for a variety of reasons...to learn, to share, some to brazenly pimp their own sites/businesses, some to focus group ideas for books, etc. Who cares...to each their own. If you're looking to be attacked labeled or ridiculed...perhaps a visit to any political blog opposite your party affiliation and call yourself a liberal or conservative and enjoy the abuse! Personally, I've been married 31 years to a marvelous woman whom I love and respect but if I wanted conflict and labels...I'd log off here and go to the living room...that's where the real action is!

Back in the day, you don't like what you heard or saw...you changed the channel...or turned it off. I say with the utmost of respect, even in today's digital age...still an option!

Posted by Dave Wheeler at June 22, 2008 11:40 PM

'Oh we pretty things, don't we know we're driving our mamas and papas insane...'

Amid all this pontificating & bickering, aren't we missing a simple & eloquent message?

viagra overnight order And which is?

A hand-holding ass-kicking 'buck starts/stops/spins-on-its-axis here'... exhortation of self-responsibility?

'Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others...' so let's set outrageous objectives... spawn an everyone-involved here-now-all-the-damn-time culture and pursue radical breakthroughs, not baby-step innovation. Redefine ourselves - and in many cases our markets.

To me, what The Good Reverend Tom is in search of is a way to do business in a much more human-in-a-good-way manner - and which makes it easier, life-enhancing, abundantly profitable and... FUN!

So yeah, explore and embrace the unconventional, outrageous and bizarre... get comfortable with the downright weird and alarming... and leave the outdated norms in the dust.

'Stop being safe - do something radical before you die. The money will follow.'
'Live with a mad sense of panache... you gotta bleed a little while you sing - or the words don't mean a thing.'

And to those who say 'idealistic nonsense, can't be done'... you're of course right. So hunker down beneath the covers with your mug of cocoa, and be sure your necktie is straight in the morning.

For the 'only way out is through' rest of us, that 'hot rail to hell' beckons...

'Teach your children?' Oh, for sure - and enlighten ourselves too.

buy viagra with echeck Enough. Goodbye for now. ;-)

Posted by g at June 23, 2008 2:18 AM

This is today's TP quote which has relevance to our discussion of excellence. And, yes, you've guessed right...I get these daily too. Just can't get enough of "The Good Reverend." (Loved your comment g!)

viagra from canada "What if ... Every project ... was evaluated on grace + beauty + elegance?"

Excellence is "grace + beauty + elegance." All the things which we consider to be "hard" will be inherently included. "Soft is hard." (Who said that? Dare I say the name again?) Soft also often gets in places where hard has no initial entrance, even where hard is the basis for progress.

Soft is hard.

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 23, 2008 4:56 AM

Dave...thank you for your words...a lot; they are quite relevant. Loved the political and living room analogies...apropos indeed.

Posted by Judith Ellis at June 23, 2008 5:03 AM

Excuse me (I'm joining this discussion late), but I think Frank may be onto something. Call me a conspiracy-theorizing nutjob, but I've long suspected that Tom, in retirement since In Search Of Excellence, has been sending a body double (carefully trained and well-informed) to live on the road, criss-crossing 5 continents a month at times, to deliver the Excellence Always message to resistant leaders for the last 25 years, while the real Tom (tan and well-rested) sips iced tea in VT and delivers daily satsang to chanting devotees. I do believe Tom does the book-writing (there's only been 15 or so), the daily blogging, and the powerpoint designing, but he leaves the heavy lifting to Tom2. And who can blame him?

Posted by John O'Leary at June 23, 2008 3:13 PM

John... now that is the 'pursuit of excellence' as I know and love it... work smarter not harder... way to go Tom!

Posted by Richard Lipscombe at June 23, 2008 4:42 PM

Now I get - I'm just blogging with a bunch
of Tom's alter egos.

Posted by frank at June 23, 2008 4:56 PM

John - Brilliant - that exlpains everything my friend - you've cracked it!! :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at June 23, 2008 5:31 PM