Page 34 - DEC2019 BBQNEWS DIGITAL

®
NBBQA IS IN THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE
In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins opens with this simple phrase, “Good is
the enemy of great.” When I read this for the 昀rst time, I was confused on how ‘good’ could be the enemy of anything, much less the enemy of ‘great,’ then he explained. When we say, “Ah, that’s good enough” we are settling for simply being good at what we do without putting forth the extra e昀ort it would take to
be great. He also couples this with resting on your laurels citing examples such as AP Grocery and Woolworths (in recent history think Toys R Us and Sears). Companies satis昀ed with ‘good enough’ or resting on past success was enough to convince me that ‘Good’ was indeed the enemy of ‘Great!’
Then he hits me with the phrase. “Great is the enemy of Excellence!” Just when
I was all set to put forth the e昀ort it takes to be great, he asks me why would I
settle for being great when I can be excellent. WOW! This hit me like a ton
of bricks. Because in all that we do, why not strive for excellence, making the e昀ort to excel in what we do? Being excellent doesn’t come easy nor is it cheap and I’m not talking just money, but time, sweat and tears all go into this. The experiments with 昀avors to get the right pork rub only to discover it would be better on 昀sh. So back to the test kitchen you go.
The National BBQ & Grilling Association recognizes what it takes when you aren’t willing to settle for great but to strive for excellence. In the past, we mainly focused on rubs and sauces then came along other products like packaging. Over the last few years, media has entered the contest with journals and podcasts devoted solely to the outdoor cooking life. With the advent of Instagram, digital magazines and books on Kindle, it isn’t any wonder the NBBQA wants to acknowledge the variety of excellence seen in the BBQ world.
There are seven major categories which are then broken down into sub-categories giving
those in the business of BBQ several opportunities to add “award winning” to your marketing campaign. Take a look at these brief descriptions then go to: www.nbbqa.org/2020-awards-of-excellence for more details and to enter.
BarbecueNews.com - 32
DECEMBER 2019