I had a 7-hour board retreat yesterday, during which I was blessed to host a session on excellence. I walked our board through a similar process I use when I talk to other organizations. In it, I challenged the board to have an uncomfortable conversation.
Think about the things we do best. Now, let's assume we're actually terrible at them.
See, this is tremendously uncomfortable! Instead of patting ourselves on the back or thinking good enough is good enough, we spent the next few hours assuming we're actually terrible. And if that's true, what would we need to change to pursue excellence? It brought forth so many beautiful ideas: some tweaks to our existing process, some complete overhauls.
This is a similar process we take at Northern Vessel. No matter how much success we have, we continually assume we're terrible at everything and challenge ourselves to push harder. Our signature oat milk cold brew latte ("CBL") is a great example of this. I remember a particular moment that was especially wild. The drink had gone viral, practically synonymous with our brand, and we were coming off a month where we sold 15,000 servings of just that drink.
I received a phone call from TJ: "I think we should completely start over on the CBL recipe. I think it can be better."
Uhhhhh, what?!?! TJ went on to explain that while we were famous for that drink, it could be better.....much better. We deserved better, and our guests deserved better, he said. We would replace the simple syrup with organic agave and rebuild the entire recipe from scratch around that concept. It will be healthier, more consistent, and provide a more well-rounded sweetness. I was hesitant, but TJ insisted. It was one of the scariest things we've ever done, but in hindsight, it now seems like the world's biggest no-brainer. The rest is history, as they say.
Nothing good happens when we allow good enough to be good enough. On the flip side, there's no telling how much upside there is when we challenge ourselves to believe the bar can, and should, be significantly higher than it is today. This applies to our money, our work, our ministries, our businesses, our relationships, and our lives. Everything should be on the table.
This is what the pursuit of excellence looks like at its core. Never stop growing. Never get complacent. Never allow our ego to get the best of us. 1% better every day.
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