A Hero's Guide to the Pursuit of Excellence

In 2011 I authored several white papers as part of a company wide contest. The mission of the contest was to promote the company - a worthy cause and an overall fun challenge.

One of the white papers I wrote was on the topic of excellence, and how it is a process to perform rather than a single goal to achieve. To ensure I obtained credit and points for the contest, I used the company as a model on how to incorporate excellence into its culture. The paper also described excellence at the organization or department level, and at the individual level.

I know it's worth reading, because I won second place in the completion and was awarded an iPad for my contributions. Titled 'Excellence by Design", it outlines how we can develop our own mindsets for performing with an attitude of excellence in everything we do, regardless if it is a core value of the company or not. You can download your free copy here.
Some of the key points the paper brings out is that whether you are in a defined position of leadership or one of the rank & file knowledge workers, the principles are the same:

• It is not enough to just deliver a service.
• How we deliver is as important to investors and customers as what we deliver.
• Perfect service delivery is a result of upstream service excellence.
• Flawless execution is about the ability to overcome problems, hurdles, roadblocks, setbacks, and other issues which are standing in the way of delivering results on time, on budget, and on target.
• Striving for service excellence is an individual effort, a team effort, an organizational effort, and a company effort.

The best thing about working in a mindset of excellence is that it's not the same as perfection. In striving for excellence, there is room for me to work in my strengths zone, apply creativity and innovation, and contribute to a greater cause. Excellence is dynamic in nature, therefore it leaves me with satisfaction and fulfillment in my job.

Question: How do you define excellence?