CRM - May 2008 - (Page 27)

EXCELLENCE ave you been to the business aisle of the bookstore recently? Judging by the mountain of books on excellence, we should have produced a stampede of excellence by now. It’s clear that we are nowhere close. Excellence is not a permanent, integral part of our lives. The question is, why not? Understanding excellence and how to deliver it is at the heart of the matter. We have been captivated by misconceptions and faulty logic that is encapsulated in what I call “The Excellence Myth.” The myth presents a paradox: It is precisely the traditional definition of excellence that stops us from achieving our capacity for excellence. Instead of inspiring us to reach our full potential, The Excellence Myth debilitates us, permitting us to accept something less. Management, for example, consistently diminishes employees’ capacity for excellence. Willing and motivated employees are often squashed by a top-down insistence on procedures being followed. This type of bureaucracy sends a clear message to employees: Follow and obey rather than initiate and excel. Employees, as a result, are defaulting to playing the obedient soldier while surrendering any initiative or innovation. They do what they are told and try not to think too much. After years of this, how can employees even consider the pursuit of excellence? They just want to survive. the h DEFINING EXCELLENCE But what does excellence look like? According to my dictionary, excellence is “the state, quality, or condition of IN AN EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT FROM HIS NEW BOOK EXCELLENCE EVERY DAY, INDUSTRY THOUGHT LEADER LIOR ARUSSY EXAMINES THE TRUTH— AND CRIPPLING FICTIONS— BEHIND THE VALUE OF EXPERIENCE www.destinationCRM.com CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | MAY 2008 27 http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - May 2008

CRM - May 2008 Contents Front Office Feedback Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Is CRM Too Hard for Microsoft Vendors Go Virtual For Feedback Sense-sational Marketing How UGC Can Benefit CRM DestinationCRM Dashboard Price Check, Aisle 5 Required Reading The Moving Target The Excellence Myth Seven Steps to SOA Success And They're Off! Are You Ready to Party? Skin in the Game The Right Numbers Secret of My Success Re: Tooling Connect Pint of View

CRM - May 2008

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