In search of business excellence

The search for business excellence has been ongoing for as long as there have been businesses. Why have we, as theoretically the most advanced species on this planet, not found the true core of business excellence? 

In 1982 in the book "In Search of Excellence" Tom Peters and Robert Waterman suggested that the essential message is People, Customers and Action. This was one of the first books to turn "soft" factors into "hard ones".

I believe that the search for business excellence comprises a few critical components. 

The model for business excellence

If we look at these components and for a moment regress to the simplicity of our childhood - you can imagine each of these ideas as a simple child's wooden block. 

We need to use these to build the structure of our organisation. A structure that can withstand the child next to us knocking it over. A structure that has a solid foundation, walls and a roof.

We can see how these components fit together -

Culture and Ethics are the cornerstones - without these the structure cannot stand.

Moving up, inspired and diverse teams - combined with solid finances and established systems - gives us structure. This represents the walls that grow from the foundations.

The last piece of the model is the roof: pointing upwards to the growth potential of any given business.

Business excellence leads to fulfilling growth potential.