The Myth of Excellence: Why Great Companies Never Try to Be the<br> Best at Everything

The authors make an interesting point: While our collective affluence has risen, our collective happiness has not. What came to light through thousands of interviews was that people look more towards "values" than "value" when evaluating a company. Look at the analogy of the martini bar and the biker bar—why do such different places coexist successfully? People want to be in a predictable place that shares or even embodies their values. The authors found a similar story in the failure of a high-end fashion line introduced by Kmart. Neither high-end shoppers nor regular Kmart shoppers believed that high quality, high-end fashion could exist at Kmart. People shop there for low prices, not designer jeans. Again, know your customers, and know your company. Success, and satisfied customers, will follow.