Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

To Excel:

1. to surpass others or be superior in some respect or area; do extremely well: to excel in math.
2. to surpass; be superior to; outdo: He excels all other poets of his day.

Does this actually define the word? What if surpassing is relative? Isn`t that like grading on a curve? In which case, do we say that our class did an excellent job of learning the subject; or do we redefine the standard of excellence? If so, how do we know we`re redefining it? And what sort of resentment do the people feel, who really did well on the exam? What does that mean, "really?"

It occurs to me that there are two interpretations of the measure of excellence. They may sound like the same thing, but they`re not.

• The one is the quality of something, including the quality of a skill.

• The other is the definition of that measure.

Suppose you ask someone if they can cook. They say yes, they are an excellent cook. Although there are three ways to evaluate that statement, only two seem to be in use these days. The one way is that they cook something for you, you taste it, and then you personally judge that they are a good cook or not. That`s a consensus opinion based on subjective feelings.

The second way is to redefine the skill of cooking. Does it mean being capable of putting together a recipe for roast lamb, or does it mean putting a frozen dinner into a microwave oven?

However, there is a third way to evaluate excellence, based on an objective standard---the standard of excellence. To have such an objective standard, though, we first must have a clear and concise definition of something. To excel, then, like the word "quality," means how closely something approaches that definition.

Excel, then, means that an event or object surpasses the expected measure. It doesn`t mean it surpasses someone`s feeling of expectation. Nor does it means surpassing what the "crowd" can manage to accomplish.

In todays world, how much resentment is there over the common use of consensus to determine value? How often do we hear that something is only valuable if "the market" (consensus) says it`s valuable? Without really seeing it, we sort of automatically agree that something is only excellent if other people say it`s excellent.

What about your own products, your own skills; are they valuable only if a group of strangers decide they`re valuable?

What if you`re stranded on an island in the Pacific, and you know how to condense water out of humid air? Does it matter if anyone at all around you considers this a valuable skill, or if there`s nobody around you? Your knowledge enables you to live and survive, and ultimately, that`s the standard of measure---does this promote your life or not.

Think of the kids we see today who have access to miraculous technology in their toys, clothing, educational materials, healthcare, and food. Yet they take it for granted. If nobody teaches them how to evaluate quality and excellence, they grow up to believe that everything is of equal value. To them, cooking a frozen breakfast is no different than eating in a fine restaurant. It`s all the same, none of it being excellent, all of it being run of the mill or a naturally occurring event.

trees falling in forest make sound, even if nobody there to hear sound.

-------------------------

James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

Funny you should mention that! :-) I used that in an example, contemplating what the hell I was trying to say. Indeed, a tree makes a sound, regardless of if anyone is there to remark on it (or hear it). But if nobody cares, then so what if it makes that sound? LOL!!

On the other hand, if the reason the tree is falling is because some frickin` giant is running after you, ready to eat you up, then I suppose it`d be a good idea to at least listen for the sound of trees falling, maybe as a sort of early-warning system. :-)

 

Good point, Nick...although perhaps toro poopoo would be the more populist term. :-) I guess it`s all relative.

Naw Craig, www.BovScat.com is a non-commercial site I`m building for the purpose of looking at what kinda "BovScat" the web-gurus are putting out. I buy lots of that stuff to evaluate... 99 and 44/100ths of it is truly scatological in nature and content. Much of it seems to come from the Northern end of a South-bound Male of the Bovine Species.

Nick

ROFL!! I love it!! I made a note in my calendar to be reminded a few days before the end of the world. LOL!!

I can see some problems with the site, probably the hosting cervix, but what the hell. If you really can lay this out as a sort of "myth-busters" thing, it`s an example of how the Web can actually help in ways few people thought of before.

Cool idea!.....WAIT!!......"Excellent" idea :-D

Nick,
You`re preachin` to the choir, so to speak. I wonder if maybe many of us in the Boomer generation haven`t reached the point where we want to make major changs to how things have been. Your site is similar to my concept of a consolidated philosophy, joining Idealism to a more reasoned analysis of some type of "spiritualistic" concept.

I have no idea how long it`ll take to get my own site established, but it`s along the lines of what you`re doing: different arena, similar concepts. I`ll keep an eye open for changes you make. :-) Heck, I`ll have to keep the other eye open on how to write my own content. But a one-eyed person is still better off, in this context, than a no-eyed person, right?