What separates mediocre organizations from excellent organizations?

In a word: execution.

Good ideas, innovation, and vision are obviously vital but if execution is weak or lacking, the true value is never realized. For this reason, I believe the real difference between mediocre and great companies is the ability to prioritize, plan, and ultimately execute.

"Good is the enemy of the great" -Jim Collins

Leadership with a big "L".

A vision that can spring board all the members of the staff, the customers and vendors into a harmonious venture.

Hi Sebhatu,

purpose and people.

excellent organisations have purpose and a people who are ready (and know how) to reach it.

Regards, Daniel

1. Hire the best
2. Ability to creatively contribute
3. Empowerment to make decisions and satisfy customers
4. Vision, mission, and clear goals with ability to communicate up/down the chain to buy into it
5. Socially rewarding and generally a happy environment that one can take pride in

I was just talking with some top performers about this today. It's basically two things: 1.) Top empowers bottom. 2.) Bottom feeds ideas to top. Top approves and empowers bottom to implement. When necessary, bottom takes direction from top. It's the circle of life, and it thrives best in a culture of creativity, honesty and accountability exemplified by the people at the top.

A strong business model (that is regularly reviewed) and a strong management model tailored to suit the business model (which is also regularly reviewed) will result in a successful and resilient business. I've been using the business model canvas detailed in "Business Model Generation" and highly recommend it. (Disclosure: I am credited as a co-creator.) As for management models, I rely on the work of Stephenson et al on the spectrum of management and the recent work of Birkinshaw on reinventing management. Regularly reviewing these two main elements and instituting the changes necessary for continued success are the hallmarks of an agile organization positioned for opportunity.

I think the answer lies in your question. Organization is one of the most important keys to a good organization. Want to see how organized a company is? Subject them to an audit. Just the reaction to the fact that one is coming will give you some idea as to how organized they are. How they handle the audit itself is another indication. Take a look at industries like the health care industry where surprise audits are a regular part of life and you'll see what I'm talking about. Most importantly, an organized company is well-prepared to weather almost any unexpected occurrence because organized companies have things in place such as backup plans, disaster recovery plans, documentation on just about anything, etc. Organization feeds productivity because of the stress it alleviates or removes.

Simple answer is flawless execution directed through visionary and ethical leadership where all team members believe they have value.

If you listen to Simon Sinek then great organisations have a compelling and inspiring reason to exist which connects with the customers that they are serving. Or as Sinek puts it "start with why".

If you look at this over a longer time-frame then you can say time. What do I mean? History shows that if you wait long enough then great organisations tend to become mediocre organisations: think Nokia, think GE, think IBM, think Dell, think Starbucks and incidentally Micorosoft is on the way. And some of them are able to reinvent themselves.

For me what distinguishes one company from another in today's competitivve marketplace since product and/or services must be good or they'd be out of business is world class customer service.

I feel obliged to point out that "excellent" organisations are simply the ones that have found their ecological niche at that point in time. This can have come about by intelligent design, trial and error, or simply luck.

In the same way "mediocre" organisations are the ones that have not found that niche or the fitness landscape has changed and so these organisations are no longer adapted to their niche and as yet have not found an alternative niche.

Before you go researching for characteristics it is worth noting that most of the companies identified as being excellent in the book In Search of Excellence were no longer excellent within 10 years of the book being published.

There is an excellent book titled 'The Halo Effect" effect by Phil Rosenzwieg that is well worth reading if you really are interested in this topic of "excellent" and "mediocre" organisations. For me it is the best business book I have ever read and I have read some.

One of the military branches used to use the phrase, "if you're good enough to get in." In my home town of Bozeman is Owenhouse Ace Hardware. If you stopped ten people on the street and asked who has the best customer service 9 out of 10 would say Owenhouse.

Owenhouse has been in business for over 100 years. They started 13 years after Custer's Last Stand. No automobiles, electricity, phones, internet, trains yet they survived a depression, countless recessions, weather, wars, economic and monetary changes.

Yet over all those years, owners, employees, and managers came and went but the business endured. Not only did they create an excellent organization but they created an in-store "culture" that produces an environment where every employee takes ownership and pride in every aspect of their business. How many companies can you think of that have a waiting list of well qualified people hoping someone will quit, move or die? People make a business excellent when they feel a sense of ownership.

Their people, in mediocre organizations employees may be doing their jobs but not as well as the employees in excellent organizations. It all starts at the top.