{"id":9990,"date":"2026-09-06T15:09:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T11:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=9990"},"modified":"2026-09-06T15:10:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T11:10:52","slug":"excellence-is-a-moving-target-but-it-is-not-an-excuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=9990","title":{"rendered":"Excellence Is a Moving Target\u2014But It Is Not an Excuse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>When Continuous Improvement Is Misunderstood, Misused, or Weaponized<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have often said that&nbsp;<strong>excellence is a moving target.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But I have spent the last few days reflecting on how differently people can interpret what I meant. So I decided to write this article to explain more clearly what this principle means to me\u2014and, equally importantly, what it does&nbsp;<strong>not<\/strong>&nbsp;mean.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I believe deeply that excellence is a moving target.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What was excellent yesterday may need to evolve tomorrow. Experience teaches us. Circumstances change. Expectations change. And strong leaders should never become so attached to the status quo that they stop questioning whether something can be done better.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But over the years, I have also learned something else:<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A good leadership principle can become dangerous when it is taken out of context.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cExcellence is a moving target\u201d should never become an excuse for underperformance\u2014or an invitation for others to continuously disrupt your systems, standards, or governance.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It should not become a convenient answer when someone has failed to meet an already clearly established standard.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And equally, it should not become a license for others to continuously challenge, complicate, restructure, or interfere with systems that are already delivering excellent results, simply because improvement is theoretically always possible.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is an important difference between&nbsp;<strong>continuous improvement and continuous disruption.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A Moving Target Does Not Mean There Is No Target<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If excellence is a moving target, there is still a target.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are still standards.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are still expectations, responsibilities, timelines, governance structures, processes, and measures of performance.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A team member cannot consistently fall below an established standard and then defend that performance by saying that excellence is subjective or constantly evolving.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Evolution should move performance&nbsp;<strong>forward<\/strong>, not provide intellectual cover for falling behind.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I speak about excellence as a moving target, I mean that once we achieve today\u2019s standard, we should have the ambition to ask what tomorrow\u2019s standard should become.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I do not mean that today\u2019s standard suddenly becomes optional\u2014or that yesterday\u2019s excellence should suddenly be labelled inadequate simply because someone wants to change it.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Continuous improvement begins with accountability\u2014not instead of it.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Improvement Should Not Become an Excuse to Complicate What Works<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is another misuse of this philosophy that leaders need to recognize.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes people look at a successful system, process, strategy, or organization and insist that because \u201cnothing is perfect,\u201d something must be changed.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More meetings.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More layers.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More approvals.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More reporting.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More people involved.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More jobs.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More interventions.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And suddenly,&nbsp;<strong>what was once efficient, effective, and cost-conscious becomes complicated, bureaucratic, and expensive &#8211; not even better.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Complexity is not evidence of sophistication, just as change is not automatically evidence of progress.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before changing something that works, I believe we should ask very simple questions:<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What problem are we solving?<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What evidence tells us that the current system is no longer sufficient?<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What measurable improvement are we expecting this change to create?<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If these questions cannot be answered clearly, then perhaps what is being proposed is not improvement at all.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>It may simply be interference disguised as improvement.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Change Should Have to Justify Itself<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is particularly important when the existing system is already performing well.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When a system is failing, the case for change may be obvious.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But when a system is already delivering strong results, sound governance, efficiency, accountability, and measurable impact, the question should not simply be:<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cWhy shouldn\u2019t we change it?\u201d<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The better question is:<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cWhat additional value will this change create?\u201d<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And perhaps:<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cWill the value created justify the additional complexity, resources, time, approvals, or layers we are introducing?\u201d<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The stronger the existing performance, the stronger the justification for adding complexity should be.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Change should not be considered inherently progressive simply because it is change.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Change should earn its place by demonstrating value.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Success Does Not Create Automatic Entitlement to Participation<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the more difficult leadership lessons I have learned over the years is that inclusion and collaboration must still be earned through&nbsp;<strong>relevance and contribution<\/strong>.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not everyone who wants to participate in a successful journey automatically deserves a role in it.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A successful system is often the result of years of experience, mistakes, learning, relationships, discipline, credibility, and continuous fine-tuning that outsiders may never see.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another lesson I have learned is that when an outcome looks effortless\u2014and the success is significant\u2014people sometimes underestimate everything that was required to create it.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They see the success.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They do not necessarily see the architecture behind the success.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They may not see the years of decisions, corrections, difficult choices, lessons, systems, relationships, governance, discipline, and persistence that made that success possible.&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>And sometimes, they may even refuse to see it, no matter how willing you are to explain what lies behind that success.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And occasionally, the language of&nbsp;<strong>\u201cimprovement,\u201d \u201coversight,\u201d \u201cfresh perspectives,\u201d \u201ctighter governance,\u201d \u201cmore approvals\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201c \u201c&nbsp;<strong>we just want to protect you \u201c or \u201c we just want to help and support you<\/strong>&nbsp;\u201c can be used to justify unnecessary involvement in structures that are already well governed and performing effectively.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leadership requires openness\u2014but it also requires boundaries.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Protecting a high-performing system from unnecessary interference is not resistance to improvement.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes,&nbsp;<strong>protecting what works is itself good governance.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Defending Standards Is Not Defending the Status Quo<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This distinction matters enormously.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a difference between saying:<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cWe will not change because this is how we have always done it.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and saying:<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cWe will change when there is evidence that the proposed change will make us better.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first is complacency.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second is disciplined leadership.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I do not believe leaders should defend systems simply because they created them.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But neither should they dismantle, complicate, or dilute successful systems simply to demonstrate that they are receptive to criticism or change.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Openness does not require surrendering your judgment.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Listening does not require agreeing.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>And continuous improvement does not require continuous restructuring.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Constructive Challenge Must Have a Purpose<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Strong leaders should welcome constructive criticism. I certainly do.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have spent years fine-tuning strategies, processes, partnerships, communication, governance, and even my own leadership style.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But constructive challenge should&nbsp;<strong>contribute something<\/strong>.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It should identify a genuine gap, inefficiency, missed opportunity, emerging need, or better way of achieving the objective.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Criticism without evidence\u2014or even without understanding what is already there\u2014is not necessarily insight.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Change without purpose is not necessarily progress.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And involvement without added value is not necessarily collaboration.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This distinction becomes particularly important when an organization or a leader has built something successful over many years.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Success naturally attracts people who genuinely want to contribute to it\u2014and that can be extremely positive.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But success can also attract people who simply want to&nbsp;<strong>insert themselves into it.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a difference.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And with experience, I have learned to distinguish between the two.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Excellence Must Move Forward\u2014Not Sideways<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For me, the phrase&nbsp;<strong>\u201cexcellence is a moving target\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;has never meant endlessly moving things around.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It means moving&nbsp;<strong>forward<\/strong>.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Better outcomes.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greater efficiency.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Higher quality.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More sustainable impact.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Better use of resources.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stronger accountability.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If a proposed change does not advance any of these\u2014or cannot clearly justify the advancement it is expected to create\u2014we should have the confidence to ask why we are making it.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And if someone uses the philosophy of continuous improvement to excuse poor performance, the answer should be equally clear:<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The fact that tomorrow\u2019s standard may be higher does not remove your responsibility to meet today\u2019s standard.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Discipline of Excellence<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps this is the part of excellence we discuss less often.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Excellence requires ambition, but it also requires discipline.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The discipline to improve when improvement is needed.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The discipline to admit when something can be better.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The discipline to hold people accountable when standards are not met.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The discipline to question our own systems without automatically assuming they are wrong.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>And also the discipline to say no when unnecessary change threatens to create bureaucracy, dilute accountability, consume resources, or interfere with something that is already working exceptionally well.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So yes,&nbsp;<strong>excellence is a moving target.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But that does not mean we should keep moving the target to excuse those who miss it.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>And it certainly does not mean that everyone who wants to reposition the target should automatically be given the authority\u2014or the opportunity\u2014to do so.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Excellence evolves. Standards remain. Accountability matters. And change should always earn its place by creating value.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>That, for me, is the difference between continuously improving excellence\u2014and continuously interfering with it.<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CEO of Merck Foundation.<\/strong><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1023\" src=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-1024x1023.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9991\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-1024x1023.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-300x300-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-767x767.jpg 767w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-1536x1535.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-599x599.jpg 599w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Continuous Improvement Is Misunderstood, Misused, or Weaponized I have often said that&nbsp;excellence is a moving target. But I have spent the last few days reflecting on how differently people can interpret what I meant. So I decided to write this article to explain more clearly what this principle means to me\u2014and, equally importantly, what [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-power-leadership-global-influence-and-impact"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Excellence Is a Moving Target\u2014But It Is Not an Excuse | Rasha Kelej<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=9990\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Excellence Is a Moving Target\u2014But It Is Not an Excuse | Rasha Kelej\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Continuous Improvement Is Misunderstood, Misused, or Weaponized I have often said that&nbsp;excellence is a moving target. 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