Why Not Be Extraordinary?

Why don’t we see a lot of extraordinary in the world of business? Shawn Doyle says there are several reasons.

I went out to the mailbox to get my mail this afternoon. I sat down for a light lunch and was sorting the mail, not knowing that I would come across something that was absolutely amazing. I reached into the stack and pulled out the latest Restoration Hardware catalog. I opened the front cover and was immediately pulled in to a new world.

Inside the cover was an impassioned message from the CEO with an amazing picture of him wearing a leather jacket. As I turned the pages I realized that I was not looking at the catalog but I was looking at a work of art, and I was amazed at the quality of the photos the layout and the extraordinary way all of the products were arranged in each picture. It reminded me of a brochure from a world-class art museum. As I sat slack-jawed looking through the glossy pages I started thinking. Has a catalog ever amazed me before? No. Have I ever been fascinated by a catalog before? No. Have I ever considered a catalog a work of art before? No. What is it that made that catalog so amazing? As I contemplated this over my lunch I realized what was-it was extraordinary. My next thought was why can’t all companies’ services and products be extraordinary? Now I realize that if every company service and product was extraordinary that none of them would be, because that would be the new standard. What I would like you to think about as a leader is this: would I say that your organization is extraordinary? That your products are extraordinary? That your people are extraordinary? Would your catalog if you had one blow my mind? It’s a compelling question. Why don’t I see a lot of extraordinary in the world of business? I think there are several reasons why this does not happen.

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