Excellence is a nebulus concept that has differing constructs depending on what the project or initiative is.
If you are three years of age, excellence may very well mean eating all of your nutritious food so you can eat a cookie or some other non-nutritious tasty food. If you are a student, excellence may mean any one of several grades depending on what your standards or abilities are. If you are a carpenter, excellence may mean that all of your finished components fit together as planned.If you are a business owner, excellence may simply mean keeping your bottom line in the black. If you are hosting a dinner party, excellence may mean that every guest enjoyed your culinary endeavors. If you are a corporate executive with a big insurance company, excellence may mean receiving a big "retention" bonus that used to be a bonus connected to the profit margin but now is simply a bonus that you expect to receive, regardless of how profitable your company or division is. If you are a politician or government employee, the word excellence may not even be in your vocabulary.
My point is that the concept of excellence is a shape-shifter, and a very important shape-shifter, at that. When our country, as a whole, and the public, as individuals, ceasees to strive for excellence, that is when we can truly be concerned with the future of America. Excellence doesn't mean perfection. It does, however, require that mediocrity cannot be tolerated on a consistent or long-term basis.
Mediocrity does not ensure national greatness. Excellence doesn't either, but it can go a long way towards ensuring that greatness is a least an obtainable goal.
Ancora imparo
