In the pursuit of excellence

[David Prince]

"Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better." ~ Pat Riley

"If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude." ~ Colin Powell

If you work your life striving for excellence in your woodworking, do you then get to a point where:

1. You are too picky and never satisfied,
2. Less picky and accept less than your best,
3. Too old and worn out to do it right anymore,
4. or Satisfied

[Neil Brooks]

Hm.

I'm still in that place where I'm aspiring to mediocrity :o

[Peter Aeschliman]

That question applies to all areas of life, really...

I think the ironic thing about people who are always striving for excellence is that they are rarely, if ever, satisfied or content. They're seeking perfection, which is impossible IMO.

Take most CEO's and successful entrepreneurs for example. Rarely do they make their millions and retire at 40. They keep working because they're obsessed. Their obsession leads to excellent results, but they are never satisfied.

A sad perspective, I know. Luckily I'm not one of these tortured souls... lol... at least that's my excuse for being lazy. ;)

[Tom McMahon]

Excellence means different things to different people. To a pro it may mean an acceptable product in the least amount of time, while to the hobbyist it may mean a flawless set of dove tails. What appears to be excellent this year may not look so excellent next year. The term excellence is relative to many things so much so that it is almost meaningless.

[Dewayne Reding]

Too self critical which severely affects my ability to complete projects in a timely manner.

[paul cottingham]

The word is so over-used it has no meaning any more.

[Jeff Fischer]

My favorite quote regarding perfection is:

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.
Vince Lombardi

In my case excellence is a level of quality high above "good enough' and just short of "perfect".

Just my $.02.

Jeff

[Jack Clark]

In the same vein, I've always liked this one:

"The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy. The pursuit of perfection is frustrating and neurotic. It's also a terrible waste of time."

I first saw this in (of all things) a women's magazine in the 70's. :eek:

[paul cottingham]

The word is so over-used it has no meaning any more.
hmmmm that made me sound crankier and more bitter than I actually am.:D

[Mike Cruz]

If anyone knows what excellent is, it MUST be Bill and Ted...

[paul cottingham]

Most excellent, dude.

[David Prince]

I kind of think of it like raising kids. The first one gets the brunt of discipline and doesn't seem to get by with anything. The second one gets some slack and so on and so forth until the last kid pretty much gets by with most.

Putting that context into woodworking you do your first project and are really picky trying to capture every detail. Many projects down the road you might let a few things slide because it still looks pretty good.

And...being a perfectionist and doing a pretty good job at something usually results in something that is excellent in another's eyes, but only okay in your eyes.

[Jim Rimmer]

It may not be pursuit of excellence but I am (at age 61) still trying to learn new skills and techniques. That's why I hang out here so much. I've pretty well nailed how to build a square box with dovetail joints. By reading ideas here I have now learned how to make the grain flow around the box, I've done my first inlay in the lid of a box, I've learned how to resaw, and so on and on.

So I've added techniques to my work and now just try to make the results of those techniques better with each project.

This is really hard to verbalize. :confused: :D

[David Cramer]

One of the secrets of life I had wish I had known along time ago, but better late than never.

Are ya ready?

Try your best, period.

There are some extremely talented woodworkers on this site. I get inspired by them, not jealous, and I try my best. We all have different abilities, but those who get the most out of their abilities succeed.

And that my friends is excellence:)

David

[Chris Nolin]

I like that, David Cramer.

My shop motto is, "Good Enough...Isn't"

[Chip Lindley]

..."The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy. The pursuit of perfection is frustrating and neurotic. It's also a terrible waste of time."


Old saying: "If anything is worth doing, it is worth doing right!" Also,"If you don't have time to do it right the first time, when will you have time to fix it?"

Persuit of "perfection" will drive you crazy! It will drive you to Drink! It will cause you to cease to produce anything meaningful, because...why try? Psssttt....there is no such thing as perfection, except in my Creator!

When one realizes his human limitations, he can strive to do his best job and be proud of what he has made with his own hands. Over time, as skills and perceptions are honed to a finer edge, that one's level of excellence increases. It is a progressive journey; a healthy, non-neurotic journey that enlightens and satisfies. It brings pride and satisfaction, rather than neurotic, self-defeating depression.

[David Prince]

One of the secrets of life I had wish I had known along time ago, but better late than never.

Are ya ready?

Try your best, period.

There are some extremely talented woodworkers on this site. I get inspired by them, not jealous, and I try my best. We all have different abilities, but those who get the most out of their abilities succeed.

And that my friends is excellence:)

David

The Cub Scout Motto is "Do Your Best!"

AND I do like the quote "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence."

[Chris Tsutsui]

At my old company the boss had this poster with his "excellence" quote that the employees would sneer at each day.

So then it became a habit where the employees would put their own motto on top of that paper and it said: "It is what it is".

Every day it would bring a smile to people's faces and the workers would repeat that motto throughout the day as a sort of joke.

I know that the quote doesn't exactly promote excellence, but it is what it is...

[Don Alexander]

when i stop striving to improve bury me because i will be dead :eek:

[Karl Brogger]

"The Amateur practices until he can get it right. The Professional practices until he can't get it wrong."

Don't know who said it, but I like it.

The truth is that there is such a thing as good enough. If you do this crap for a living, you are building it to a cost. So long as the customer is getting what they paid for you are doing your job correctly.

Why anyone would do this as a hobby is beyond me.:D There is no such thing as perfect, as it is an imperfect media to be working with. Even if you're super anal retentive there is always something that could have been done better, and hopefully the next time you make the list of things that could have been done better, a bit shorter.

[Frank Guerin]

It's not perfect but it was the best I could do at the time but I will do better in the future.

This statement holds true reguardless of what accomplisment your speaking of if you trully tried to do your best.

Often we find hind site to be a burden on our honest accomplishments to do our best.

[Tom Rick]

Excellence?

Once mastery is developed in a trade, I believe that level of fit, finish and materials are simply specifications set for each project.

On the road to mastery however, excellence is a cruel taskmaster setting over the shoulder of the craftsman....

[Rick Moyer]

My favorite quote regarding perfection is:

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.
Vince Lombardi

In my case excellence is a level of quality high above "good enough' and just short of "perfect".

Just my $.02.

Jeff

I bet Vince Lombardi never played golf!:D