Defining an exceptional business

A recent article from the National Federation of Independent Business points out four characteristics that define an exceptional business. According to the article based on the book, Built to Last by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, those four characteristics are:

• Exceptional businesses begin with, and are sustained by, a vision.
• Exceptional businesses live their values.
• Exceptional businesses think big.
• Exceptional businesses experiment.

Not surprisingly, these four characteristics can be found in every Baldrige Award winning business. The writer points out that every Fortune 500 company was once a small business. Examples could fill several books, and in fact, they have. But the only business story we're interested is the story of our own business. No one can write that story but us.

An excellent beginning to that story would be to prepare an Organizational Profile as outlined in the Baldrige criteria. Honestly describing our business in five pages or less will definitely put us on the right track and provide a foundation for future improvement.

You can read the article here.

Categories: excellence, vision, values