The Pursuit of Excellence

I know it's been a while since I last posted, but I'm back and ready to blog!!! This week's topic -- current events. With all the recent talk about bank bailouts and AIG bonuses, I thought I'd take this opportunity to discuss what I think the real problem is with the current state of the financial industry, and other industries, for that matter.

About seven years ago, through a very strange and serendipitous chain events, I ended up having dinner one night with the man who invented Sweet 'n Low. As a young 23-year old, I'd never really been around "money" (save the typically irresponsible college student with loaded parents who paid for their entire private school education). And this man had it. Not in a way that was braggadocios but in a way that was quietly confident and fully aware of the responsibility his wealth gave him to the community. It was in this context that the meeting with him happened.

I accompanied my then-boss to a downtown theatre where we were to meet Stephen O'Dell. At the time, I had no idea who he was or what he did, only that we were meeting some guy interested in funding an inner-city theatre arts project. And the real reason I was there had absolutely nothing to do with the meeting itself -- my boss needed someone to ride with her so she could catch the carpool lane -- seriously. But I was there "taking notes" as her "assistant" when we met Stephen, his wife, and the young man manging this arts projects (let's call him Joe).

So there we are at dinner at the Palm Restaurant and nothing on the menu was cheap. I had no idea he'd be paying for dinner and the $400 bottle of wine (you know, that first time being around money thing). But as we waited for our food (I just ordered a measily appetizer), conversation ensued. And it was then that I learned who Mr. O'Dell was -- yes he invented Sweet 'n Low but he also lived by a creed that drove his success and his mission to preserve the arts in greatly underserved communities.

As the conversation continued, it turned to money for the arts project. Joe was visibly nervous and anxious about being able to raise the money he needed to have a real impact in the community. You could see his mind racing, his calculations computing. Of course, Steven O'Dell could just give him the money he needed without the blink of an eye but he only committed to a small portion of the overall amount, which made Joe even more nervous. And then, as if the moment stood still to me, Mr. O'Dell looked at him sitting across the table, placed his hand on top of Joe's clinched and folded hands and said, "Joe, don't worry about the money. The money will be there. You will never get the money by pursuing it. Pursue excellence and the money will come." He went on to say that-that was exactly why he wouldn't give him all the money he needed -- he wanted the pressure Joe felt of not having all the money to drive him even further toward excellence.

Seven years later and that is still the wisest piece of advice I've ever heard. I still have this quote laying on my desk and it's been undeniably true in my own life.

So as all of the chaos began to unfold in the financial markets and the real costs of all that unchecked risk began to take its toll on not just those who took the risk but even on those who didn't, I began to think about this advice. And it made me wonder -- would our economy be where it is now if businesses and, really the individuals who run them, took a different approach? What if the real mission of business wasn't the pursuit of profits? What if the real mission was the pursuit of excellence?