Everyday Excellence (2 Min Read) | Vol. 166

August 29, 2025

“I think about this all the time — how our lives are sweetened by everyday excellence: The person smoothly and cheerfully checking you out at the grocery store or checking you in at the hotel reception desk.” – David Brooks

Everyday Excellence

Maybe the most misused management maxim is “How you do anything is how you do everything.”  Leaders trot it out when people make mistakes or when focus appears to be lax. The problem is that it puts crazy pressure on people to perform even the most inane tasks like they’re defusing a bomb. 

Extra TLC is the recipe for everyday excellence. But everything doesn’t have to be excellent all the time. Sometimes, done is good and good is great. Trivial things should get trivial attention, if they get attention at all. 

The problem is with the word “anything.” There are little things that matter, and there are little things that are just that, little things. The work that’s connected to our values or our core work deserves disproportionate attention. 

One of the best examples comes from basketball coaching legend John Wooden. Wooden won ten national titles with UCLA between 1964 and 1975. It’s one of the greatest runs of sports dominance ever. Yet every year at the first practice, he taught the best players in the world how to put on their socks and lace their shoes. 

Players would groan as he demonstrated how to ensure socks were snug inside perfectly laced sneakers. No one was exempt. 

A basketball player’s foundation is their feet. This wasn’t a trivial lesson. Blisters slow players down. Twisted ankles sideline stars. Only after mastering the basics did they move on to running plays and defensive schemes. 

Wooden demanded excellence from his players from their toes to their heads. 

We can apply this wherever excellence applies. It’s how a grocery bagger stages items on the conveyor with heavy items on the bottom and cold items together. It’s how a teacher learns every student’s name by the second week. It’s remembering how someone likes their coffee. It’s a chef who tastes every sauce before serving.

The small things that matter deserve big attention. Big things that don’t matter deserve our neglect. Choose your perfectionism wisely. Not all details are created equal. Excellence plays favorites. 

Strategic investments in moments that matter compound into reputation, relationships, and results. Master what matters. 

One question to ponder in your thinking time: What everyday tasks leading to everyday excellence deserve more of my attention? 

Make an Impact!
Jay Papasan
Co-author of The ONE Thing & The Millionaire Real Estate Agent