If your company disappeared, would it leave a gaping hole that could not easily be filled by any other enterprise on the planet?

I see the Baldrige process as a powerful set of mechanisms for disciplined people engaged in disciplined thought and taking disciplined action to create great organizations that produce exceptional results.

Comparison, a great teacher once told me, is the cardinal sin of modern life. It traps us in a game that we can't win. Once we define ourselves in terms of others, we lose the freedom to shape our own lives.

Good is the enemy of great. And that's one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.

The inner experience of fallure is totally different than failure. Going to fallure means 100% commitment - you leave nothing in reserve, no mental or physical resource untapped, you never give yourself a psychological out. Failure means making a decision to let go, to be less than 100% committed, when confronted by fear, pain and uncertainty.

Profit is like oxygen, food, water, and blood for the body; they are not the point of life, but without them, there is no life.

In a world of constant change, the fundamentals are more important than ever.