Designing meaningful excellence

Photo by Aron Visuals

McDonald's, IKEA, Ryanair, Apple, Starbucks, LEGO, Nordstrom.

What do you notice when you look at these companies? Their size or their budgets — most organizations can't match those. But there's something else.

IKEA delivers furniture you assemble yourself. Ryanair flies cheap from cheap airports, with service to match the price. Apple makes products where design and user experience come first, at a premium price.

These are deliberate choices that stem from a clear picture of what they want to be. And you see those choices reflected in everything: in their processes, their people, their customer experience.

That raises a question.

How clear are your choices?

The choices in practice. In what you offer. In what you decline. In how you deploy your people.

Most organizations want to grow. Clients ask for more. Competitors seem to do everything. The temptation is strong to go along. To say: we can do that too.

But what actually happens then?

Where do you notice it?

When did you last say no to an opportunity that didn't fit? How did that feel?

And when did you say yes while you had doubts? What happened after?

Perhaps you recognize this: you do more and more, but it feels like you're not really making a difference anywhere. You're busy, but not distinctive. Present, but not indispensable.

The question beneath the question

The companies we admire have something that's hard to copy. It's in what they consistently do — and what they consistently leave behind.

That requires clarity about what you stand for. And it requires something that may be even harder: the courage to let things go.

What do you choose — in words and in actions?

And what do you deliberately choose to leave behind?