📅 WEEK 37
📌 Rule No. 35 —Raise the bar, then raise it again.
— Why Good Is the Enemy of Great
Rule: Raise the bar, then raise it again.
Source: Good to Great by Jim Collins
The most dangerous moment in a business’s development is when it becomes comfortable.
Collins documented this with rigor: the companies that made the leap from good to great did not do so through a single dramatic move. They did so through sustained commitment to excellence — through a series of decisions that collectively pushed the standard higher, compounding over time.
What separates great companies from good ones is rarely a superior idea. It is a higher standard of execution applied consistently across every dimension of the business. It is the refusal to accept ‘good enough’ when ‘excellent’ is achievable.
Comfort is the natural resting place after success. The market share is stable. The team is productive. The processes work. The temptation to defend that position is strong. But the companies that endure don’t defend positions — they build new ones.
The leaders who sustain great organizations have developed an intolerance for stagnation. Not a restless, anxious energy that creates constant disruption, but a quiet insistence that the standard of excellence continues to rise.
Raise the bar, then raise it again is a core principle at The Executives’ Institute. It is not a call to exhaustion — it is an expectation that serious leaders never accept a permanent ceiling.
Good is where great goes to die.
coming Monday, September 14, 2026
Great companies don’t settle. They refuse to be lulled by early wins or fooled by temporary success. They build a culture where good isn’t good enough — and even great becomes the new baseline to surpass. This rule reminds leaders that the bar is never fixed. Raise it, reach it, and then raise it again. Because in enduring businesses, the pursuit of better never ends.
Real leaders keep studying.