On a recent visit to Japan, I had an opportunity to visit Toyota’s headquarters. During a meeting with some of its top executives, I asked one of them what role the senior leadership played in Toyota’s much-admired quality philosophy. The reply I received was, like many things about Toyota and Japan, disarmingly simple, yet profound. He merely said, “We follow a philosophy of improve every day.”

That’s it. Improve every day. He had captured in three words the essence of what it takes to achieve, and sustain, excellence in business. Or for that matter, in any other field.

Just imagine the power of improvements, even small ones (in fact, mostly small ones), achieved every day, continuously over a period of weeks, months, years, and decades. Needless to say, any improvement, however small, must be permanent to be meaningful. “Permanent” here means not rigid or cast in stone, but sustainable for as long as it is relevant.

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