Excel and Improve (Roll Out the New Code)
Find the better way — then upgrade everyone, not just yourself.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 82%
Glazer's core value 'Excel and Improve' holds that excellence requires improvement: use the best-known way to do something, but constantly look to change and improve it. The key discipline is that when someone finds a better version — moving from 5.0 to 6.0 — they must roll the new code out to everyone still running 4.0 and 5.0, rather than hoarding the upgrade for themselves. He pairs this with the '50% rule' he was taught: every time you double company size you break 50% of your processes and 50% of your people. The goal is to beat that number by proactively revisiting and reinventing every process — ideally when things are calm, not mid-crisis.
Origin
Glazer was repeatedly told by coaches about the '50% rule' — that doubling headcount breaks half your processes and half your people — and hated the idea of changing the tires every two laps. Excel and Improve became his answer for how not to fall into that rule, illustrated by an award ceremony tradition his company had to reinvent as it grew from 10 to 75 people and again three years later.
Core principles
- 01Excellence requires improvement — use the best-known practice, but constantly look to better it.
- 02Improve the operating system for everyone, not just for yourself.
- 03Every time you double company size you break 50% of your processes and 50% of your people.
- 04Revisit and reinvent traditions and processes on a cadence, not just when they break.
How to run it
- 1
Use the best-known practice
If a proven best-practice way of doing something exists and you don't know how, use it as your baseline.
- 2
Constantly hunt for a better version
Treat every process as improvable and keep looking for the next version, blowing it up and rebuilding it when you can make it better.
Pro tip Frame processes like software versions — 4.0, 5.0, 6.0.
- 3
Roll out the upgrade to everyone
When you discover the better version, distribute it to everyone still on the old version instead of keeping it to yourself — that's the excellence part.
Watch out Hoarding your personal 6.0 while others run 4.0 abandons excellence.
- 4
Reinvent proactively
Re-evaluate and reinvent processes and traditions on a cadence, especially when things are going well and you have time and no fires.
Pro tip Calm periods are the best time to fix processes because you actually have the capacity.
Watch out Doubling company size will break roughly half your processes — expect to reinvent, not just maintain.
In the wild
A beloved company tradition — an award ceremony tied to a core value — went from special to not working as the company grew from 10 to 75 people. They had to totally reinvent it to bring back the special piece, and then reinvent it again three years later.
→ The tradition retained its meaning at each new scale instead of quietly dying as the company grew.
Glazer contrasts the person who finds 5.0 and holds it to themselves with the ideal: Sally finds 6.0 and then everyone running 4.0 and 5.0 is told to upgrade.
→ The whole organization's operating system improves rather than just one individual's private workflow.
Common mistakes
Hoarding your own improvement
Finding a better process and keeping it to yourself abandons excellence — the point is to upgrade everyone's operating system, not just your own.
Only fixing processes when they break
Waiting for a fire to reinvent a process means you're doing it under pressure without time, instead of proactively during calm periods.
Is it for you?
Best for
Operators and leaders scaling a company who want processes and culture to keep pace with growth.
Not ideal for
Tiny stable teams where processes rarely strain and reinvention is overkill.
From the transcript
“Excellence requires improvement”
“you want Sally to find 6.0 and then tell everyone running 4.0 and 5.0 to upgrade”
“every time you double a company size you break 50% of your processes and 50% of your people”
From the episode
Robert Glazer: How to Build a Winning Team and Culture
Robert Glazer