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- The Importance of Excellence
 | “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” Martin Luther King |
 | “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Will Durant |
 | “It’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.” Dolly Parton |
Pursuing excellence is crucial for all engineers. The products we design, the bridges we build, and the code we write directly affects many people. If these tasks are not done with care, then our world is worse for it. Let’s do our jobs well in order to make things safer, more efficient, and a pleasure to use.
Similar to gardening, all excellent products start as small seemingly insignificant details that are sown like seeds, but have the potential to grow into incredible things. These are the tiny details that when they are done well and with care, blossom into excellent work.
How can you become an engineer who pursues excellence with the S.O.W. method?
1. Seek Excellence in Others
When we look for and encourage excellence in others, great things can happen.
The very act of seeking excellence and appreciating it will cause you to desire to do your work with excellence. If everyone complimented the excellent work they see others around them do, we would create a culture where excellence is valued and expected.
Next time you see great service at a restaurant where you don’t expect it, compliment the server and tip them accordingly.
Don’t be the person who says, “This is just the way things are.” Believe that simple everyday things can be excellent and that there is always improvements that can be made.
2. Operate with an Excellence Mindset
If you want to learn how to cultivate an excellence mindset, look no further than Chick-fil-A.
How does Chick-fil-A inspire excellence in their fast-food employees?
It’s quite simple. Chick-fil-A created a culture of excellence. They expect excellence out of their employees and reward it when they see it. Putting the customer’s needs and wants first has created world class customer service that the world loves.
Chick-fil-A Heard Model
3. Work Excellence into Everything You Do
Now, how can you do excellent work as an engineer?
While it is tempting to phone some of your work in for the sake of time, money, or required effort, avoid this as much as possible.
Remember that as an engineer, your work is of great importance even if you are just working on one small subassembly of a larger product. Your job and obligation as an engineer is to make your contribution as well-designed as possible.
Commit to doing things well even when no one is watching.
Helpful Resources to become an engineer who strives for Excellence:
Photo of the Week:
Action Steps
How can you incorporate the S.O.W. method into your life to produce work you are proud of? Do you have any stories about excellence you have seen in others? I’d love to hear about your experiences.
Enjoy this: Please tell a friend about it.
S.O.W. seeds of Excellence and Rock on,
Camden
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