There’s a slide set floating around on the interwebs about management lessons learned from the recent Bollywood hit 3 Idiots. One slide that sticks out to me is one with the statement “Focus on Excellence, Not Success”. While it is important to focus on a goal, achieving success at any cost can lead you down a treacherous path. However, focusing on excellence will lead down a more natural and rewarding course to success. Furthermore, focusing on excellence is a concrete goal; it it something you can directly affect. Success, though, is more nebulous; there are many external factors that can get in the way.
Consider a business owner. If she merely says, “I want to have a successful business”, she has to define what ‘success’ is and then make a plan and work backwards. If she instead says, “Every day, I will focus on selling high-quality products and providing excellent customer service”, her success will come naturally as word spreads about her excellent service and products. An athlete who focuses on running faster or hitting the ball farther may choose to take a dangerous shortcut to achieving those goals rather than showing up for practice every day or spending time on developing excellent technique.
Now consider your own activities – are there situations where you are focused on success rather than excellence?
NehalPatel 