Pursuit of Excellence

Value Education was the first period in school days. Designing those 'Value Books', comparing friend's paper cuttings, showing off the new 'thought for the day' flipped out from a book that no one else has read was so much fun.

Looking back, i am very thankful for those lessons. Because through those schooling years, many essential values were grounded in our personality and the way we conduct ourself day in day out.

One of values that has become a management jargon is 'excellence'.

I am still trying to understand excellence. I have come to an understanding, that excellence is in practice.
It is this journey towards excellence and excelling in our chosen path; that will help us know our 'Self',
This, i believe would be the ultimate discovery.

Since i could make very less sense out of the information overload on the internet, discussions with peer group, training sessions and seminars in educational institutions on 'excellence', i turned to my school textbook and found a chapter.  i am mentioning it here.

"Once upon a time in Southern India, an old sculptor was chiseling a long stone into an idol. The idol was that of a 'Devadoota', messenger of God. These idols are placed around the temple and symbolize messengers who carry messages to God.

The idol of Devadoota was to be placed under a stoned roof outside the temple. So here, he was chiseling out the stone into a magnificent beautiful idol.

Lord was seeing all this while the old man exhibited perseverance and dedication. Intrigued by the tenacity of the old man's work, Lord himself appeared in human form to know the intentions of this man.

He asked him what is he doing. The man, still busy with his work, replied that he is carving out a statue.

Lord thought that this man might not be knowing where this statue is going to be placed, and is mistaking it for the main idol of the temple. Lord tried to clear his misconception. The old man already knew that the idol was that of a Devadoota and not of the main idol.

Lord further told him that this idol is going to be placed in a dark corner where no one can see it. The old man seemed to know that as well. Now,  Lord was perplexed and asked him, "if you know that the idol is that of a devadoota and is going to be placed in that dark corner of the temple outside its premises, why have you put in so much efforts in making it so beautiful and elegant to look like a real life devadoota?

There is no one to appreciate the beauty of this idol and no one in the lifetime of the temple would even know that an idol like that existed" To that the old man gently replies "I will know it" and got back to his work.

This i think explains excellence more than anything else in the simplest way i could have understood.
i will go back to this lesson, when i slip my way. Excellence is the awareness 'i will know it'. Our self knows our path towards excellence.

I am still on the path towards excellence. I slip more often than others, but i would continue to work diligently on the path in Pursuit of Excellence.

here's leaving with Harsha Bhogle at IIM in a speech on Excellence: here