"Excellence cannot be sustained indefinitely...you maintain excellence for limited periods of time, and then you lose it...you do not reach peak levels by repeating exactly the same processes that worked in the past. Reaching a level of excellence involves analyzing each individual situation and determining what is right. It entails good communication, cooperation, high expectations, risk, and trust." "Most of us seek quantum leaps in our performance levels by following a strategy of incremental investment. This strategy simply does not work. The land of excellence is safely guarded from unworthy intruders. At the gates stand two fearsome sentries - risk and learning. The keys to entrance are faith and courage. To attain excellence, an individual, group, or organization must care enough about an activity to insist that it fully meets and exceeds the demands of its audience (either internal or external), and this involves a fair amount of risk. Personal and organizational excellence demands experimentation, relfection, and evaluation, and these things in turn lead to learning and growth. Change precipitates growth - some part of the self or the organizational culture is abandoned, encouraging and allowing a new self or a new culture to emerge. The new self or culture usually leads to a synergistic relationship that results in high performance."