What do you think?
Rate this book
Outstanding!: 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional
" Outstanding! hits the nail on the head in every way: Practical content, terrific stories, and an easy read. Miller has provided a road map for organizations to become exceptional--just follow the path laid out. Definitely a must read!"
--Dave Ramsey, author of Total Money Makeover and host of The Dave Ramsey Show
Every day outstanding organizations do things and promote values that ensure they will retain customers, grow revenues, increase market share, and build their reputations. People in these organizations hold values and take actions-- individually and collectively--that are not always easy or obvious but are fundamentally powerful.
Informed by his own commitment to the concept of personal accountability and enlivened by compelling true stories from exceptional organizations, in this insightful and accessible book John Miller identifies the principles and behaviors that distinguish such organizations from the pack and provides readers with ways to integrate them into their own work.
With its pithy entries that carry significant impact, Outstanding is by turns a playbook, a guide, and an inspiration. It is filled with practical ideas that can--and should--be used every single day by individuals and teams from the boardroom to the stockroom for creating a distinguished organization with which customers and stakeholders will want to work.
--Dave Ramsey, author of Total Money Makeover and host of The Dave Ramsey Show
Every day outstanding organizations do things and promote values that ensure they will retain customers, grow revenues, increase market share, and build their reputations. People in these organizations hold values and take actions-- individually and collectively--that are not always easy or obvious but are fundamentally powerful.
Informed by his own commitment to the concept of personal accountability and enlivened by compelling true stories from exceptional organizations, in this insightful and accessible book John Miller identifies the principles and behaviors that distinguish such organizations from the pack and provides readers with ways to integrate them into their own work.
With its pithy entries that carry significant impact, Outstanding is by turns a playbook, a guide, and an inspiration. It is filled with practical ideas that can--and should--be used every single day by individuals and teams from the boardroom to the stockroom for creating a distinguished organization with which customers and stakeholders will want to work.
206 pages, Hardcover
First published December 17, 2009
49 people are currently reading
784 people want to read
About the author
John G. Miller
34 books39 followersJohn G. Miller is the founder of QBQ, Inc., an organizational development company dedicated to making personal accountability a core value for organizations and individuals. QBQ, Inc. has worked with hundreds of Fortune 500 and other companies and governmental and non-government organizations internationally. Miller, who appears frequently on national television and radio, is the author of the bestselling QBQ! The Question Behind the Question and Flipping the Switch: Five Keys to Success at Work and in Life. He lives in Denver.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
February 2, 2011
John Miller's book, OUTSTANDING!: 47 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR ORGANIZATION EXCEPTIONAL, is, well, ... OUTSTANDING! The author of QBQ and Flipping the Switch, may have written his best book ever. Quite often authors put out a book that is little more than a regurgitation of their earlier books. Not so, here.
Each of Miller's 47 points are given a chapter. Each one is valuable in its' own way. In Chapter 3, I realized why some of my training initiatives fail. I don't always put purpose first. If people don't have a good understanding of why it is necessary for them to do things a certain way, they are much less likely to adopt it as their own. This one little piece of knowledge and understanding on my part will totally change how I develop and delivery new initiatives.
In Chapter 5, I learned the true definition of a customer. A customer is anyone who has a legitimate expectation of you. This opens up a whole new realm and an entirely new dynamic on how we view people. Customers are not just people who buy from us, they are our vendors, supervisors, family members, co-workers, etc. If we treat these relationships with the same respect and regard as we give our "paying customers", imagine the results we will see.
Chapter 44 is a refresher course in doing the little things that will make a difference for customers. These are just a few things you'll find here. There are tips of doing a better job of coaching, the importance of encouragement, even ways to hire better people.
As I read Chapter 12, aptly titled "Value Ideas Over Politics", I kept remembering Ronald Reagan when he said, "It's amazing what can be accomplished when we don't care who gets the credit."
This should become required reading for anyone at the corporate level. I'm giving this one my highest recommendation. As always, Miller writes clearly with direct points and succinct summaries. QBQ set a pretty high bar for Miller, but he may have succeeded in surpassing that bar with Outstanding!
Each of Miller's 47 points are given a chapter. Each one is valuable in its' own way. In Chapter 3, I realized why some of my training initiatives fail. I don't always put purpose first. If people don't have a good understanding of why it is necessary for them to do things a certain way, they are much less likely to adopt it as their own. This one little piece of knowledge and understanding on my part will totally change how I develop and delivery new initiatives.
In Chapter 5, I learned the true definition of a customer. A customer is anyone who has a legitimate expectation of you. This opens up a whole new realm and an entirely new dynamic on how we view people. Customers are not just people who buy from us, they are our vendors, supervisors, family members, co-workers, etc. If we treat these relationships with the same respect and regard as we give our "paying customers", imagine the results we will see.
Chapter 44 is a refresher course in doing the little things that will make a difference for customers. These are just a few things you'll find here. There are tips of doing a better job of coaching, the importance of encouragement, even ways to hire better people.
As I read Chapter 12, aptly titled "Value Ideas Over Politics", I kept remembering Ronald Reagan when he said, "It's amazing what can be accomplished when we don't care who gets the credit."
This should become required reading for anyone at the corporate level. I'm giving this one my highest recommendation. As always, Miller writes clearly with direct points and succinct summaries. QBQ set a pretty high bar for Miller, but he may have succeeded in surpassing that bar with Outstanding!
July 10, 2019
This was a simple read, but John provided powerful and great tips on how to make your organization/company outstanding. John included 47 tips with some work and can help your company stand out from the competition and be excellent every single day
October 28, 2020
I love a couple of things when I pick up a book. I love when the title is clear and promises me something tangible (something of course that I care about). I also love when the book delivers. Plus, when the book is written by a really smart person, who I’ve had the privilege to work with a bit, it’s even better.
This book is all of those things.
- See more at: http://blog.kevineikenberry.com/leade...
This book is all of those things.
- See more at: http://blog.kevineikenberry.com/leade...
January 16, 2022
This is a fast, simple read aimed at the employees of organizations more than the managers and C-levels. Each chapter topic is brief and speaks on each of the "47 Ways..." Some chapters hit (Make Meetings Meaningful, Hire Character, and Seek No Culprits) while others miss completely with seriously bad takes (Work!, Never Forget Who Pays the Bills, and Succeed with What You Have.)
Work culture has changed drastically since this was published and it could use some updating.
Work culture has changed drastically since this was published and it could use some updating.
December 17, 2019
I feel like this book should have a disclaimer that it's a Christian book, but it's not too heavy-handed. There are just some Bible references sprinkled throughout, and the whole tone is very wholesome.
BUT, I did find a lot of good ideas, especially this one:
"Repetition is the motor of learning"
p. 143
"The motor of learning is repetition. If there is no way to repeat the training, then most likely it will fail. One exposure isn't enough. People need repetition in order to successfully navigate the four stages of learning.
When first exposed to a new idea, we become aware of it; we now know it exists. Then, as we try it, we feel awkward --and this is where most people quit trying. Gradually, though, if we keep applying the idea, we attain a level of comfort , which is progress but not the ultimate goal. Finally, the pinnacle of learning is reached: reflex action. The content has now become so much a part of us that it's instinctively applied--it has become a skill.
Moving the learner all the way from aware to reflex action requires time and repetition. This is where training usually fails--because of no follow-through--and often comes from the "Flavor of the Month" mentality organizations possess. Bringing in one program after another without following through not only prevents repetition, it creates cynicism in people. Oh, great. Here we go again! becomes their response to the next training venture. We can defeat cynicism, help people grow, and have a positive impact on our cultures by implementing an excellent training process--and sticking with it.
Another one of his books I want to check out:
Flipping the Switch...: Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability Using the Qbq!
BUT, I did find a lot of good ideas, especially this one:
"Repetition is the motor of learning"
p. 143
"The motor of learning is repetition. If there is no way to repeat the training, then most likely it will fail. One exposure isn't enough. People need repetition in order to successfully navigate the four stages of learning.
When first exposed to a new idea, we become aware of it; we now know it exists. Then, as we try it, we feel awkward --and this is where most people quit trying. Gradually, though, if we keep applying the idea, we attain a level of comfort , which is progress but not the ultimate goal. Finally, the pinnacle of learning is reached: reflex action. The content has now become so much a part of us that it's instinctively applied--it has become a skill.
Moving the learner all the way from aware to reflex action requires time and repetition. This is where training usually fails--because of no follow-through--and often comes from the "Flavor of the Month" mentality organizations possess. Bringing in one program after another without following through not only prevents repetition, it creates cynicism in people. Oh, great. Here we go again! becomes their response to the next training venture. We can defeat cynicism, help people grow, and have a positive impact on our cultures by implementing an excellent training process--and sticking with it.
Another one of his books I want to check out:
Flipping the Switch...: Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability Using the Qbq!
June 27, 2022
To say I was pleasantly surprised by this book would be an understatement. I picked up when glancing through the shelves at my local library, & was intrigued by the premise enough to check it out. My goal was fairly simple; I work for a 501(c)3 non-profit, & as I enter a new role tied to leadership, I was curious how I could maximize the potential of my organization after my several years behind the scenes. My hope for this book was that it would open my eyes to areas of improvement I would overlook.
To that end, Outstanding! was a home run. The book reads super easily, & each chapter has dedicated topics that make sense and articulates exactly why an organization should care about said area. What I appreciate about this book is that it's 200 pages of easy-to-read, straight-to-the point material. Other authors & other books would have stretched out each chapter into several pages & this book might have been several. The only negative I have about this book is that some of the chapters tend to be similar minus a small detail. I'm not necessarily saying they could have consolidated, but I think in some cases they could. I wish I could give a 4.5/5 rather than a hard 4, but it is what it is.
The true benefit of this book is not in the first read but rather the second one. Upon re-reading the book, I kept a separate document of each "lesson" & tried to pinpoint ways my organization could improve in the area that Outstanding! had cited. I was able to come up with concrete ideas for each of the points, & I'm excited to implement them within my organization.
Overall, this was a really fantastic book & I will be actively checking out John G. Miller's other publications to see if I can get a similar value from them.
To that end, Outstanding! was a home run. The book reads super easily, & each chapter has dedicated topics that make sense and articulates exactly why an organization should care about said area. What I appreciate about this book is that it's 200 pages of easy-to-read, straight-to-the point material. Other authors & other books would have stretched out each chapter into several pages & this book might have been several. The only negative I have about this book is that some of the chapters tend to be similar minus a small detail. I'm not necessarily saying they could have consolidated, but I think in some cases they could. I wish I could give a 4.5/5 rather than a hard 4, but it is what it is.
The true benefit of this book is not in the first read but rather the second one. Upon re-reading the book, I kept a separate document of each "lesson" & tried to pinpoint ways my organization could improve in the area that Outstanding! had cited. I was able to come up with concrete ideas for each of the points, & I'm excited to implement them within my organization.
Overall, this was a really fantastic book & I will be actively checking out John G. Miller's other publications to see if I can get a similar value from them.
December 24, 2018
An easy, okay read. The author provides lots of words of wisdom along with real world examples of companies that do outstanding things for their customers. It's a good book for any entrepreneur or leader who wants to develop a plan for making their business stand out from the crowd. It's even good advice for middle of the road managers already within a big company who want to get their team to the next level.
My only wish was for some sort of easier streamline of the ideas or thoughts, like one leading into the other.
It was an interesting thought to have introspective questions at the end of each chapter, but personally I would've preferred a bottom-line/summary point for each topic.
My only wish was for some sort of easier streamline of the ideas or thoughts, like one leading into the other.
It was an interesting thought to have introspective questions at the end of each chapter, but personally I would've preferred a bottom-line/summary point for each topic.
September 19, 2023
A collection of 47 short articles (3-5 minutes each) about strategies to make your organization excellent. I like the broad range of topics and how relevant each of them were. Very easy to read, understand, and implement in real life. I plan to listen to this, at least once a year as a refresher since each topic is relevant at different times.
April 5, 2024
I didn't connect with Outstanding! as much as I did with QBQ!, and John almost lost me before he acknowledged that customers don't have the right to abuse customer service employees.
That said, I do think there are valuable takeaways from this book that I will apply to my leadership and my growth journey.
That said, I do think there are valuable takeaways from this book that I will apply to my leadership and my growth journey.
June 27, 2017
Great Personal Growth!
Reading a short chapter each day of this book will really transform your thinking. It is simple and well written. I greatly enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who wants to be outstanding!
Reading a short chapter each day of this book will really transform your thinking. It is simple and well written. I greatly enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who wants to be outstanding!
July 7, 2018
Very practical.
July 25, 2018
Some outstanding ideas for anyone looking to make their organisation truly outstanding
June 12, 2019
.Don't listen to this audio book, it's a waste of time. Skim the book instead. It's 12 minute long medium content elaborated to 3 hour + audio book / 224 page book.
May 4, 2020
Short chapters on the 47 topics made this an easy and understandable read.
September 25, 2016
Pretty basic stuff.
March 10, 2013
Outstanding! is a fairly easy read and contains some practical content on how to improve your company or professional organization, but at 47 chapters, albeit short ones, it’s a lot to plow through in one sitting. I found it most useful to peruse the table of contents and read a chapter that had some appeal for me at the time. And although some of the ideas contained in the book have value and seem fairly easy to put into practice, I wonder if most organizations are introducing these principles into their organizational mindset. For example, one of Miller’s points is that good customer service is the foundation of a first-rate company and when everyone makes an effort to please the customer, who is their “real boss,” then customer’s return business is almost assured. No doubt that statement is absolutely correct, but customer service continues to deteriorate in business rather than improve.
As I mentioned reading this book in spurts worked best for me. Even so, I felt that Miller occasionally went off on unrelated tangents or used too many examples to prove a point, which made even his short chapters seem long. To be honest, I didn’t find his writing particularly interesting or his presentation especially clever. And parts of the book seemed drawn out so that at 200 pages the cost of the book, $21.95, might seem reasonable to most people.
My favorite chapter was entitled “Tend to the Little Things.” He briefly describes one of his children who the family called the town crier; as a toddler she would state the obvious, e.g., “Dad, the sun is shining.” Miller uses this analogy to articulate the importance of stating the obvious, i.e., organizations need to pay attention to “the little things.” He uses the example of a gas station that he prefers to all others and goes out of his way to give them his business. Why? Because it has clean restrooms! The gas station owner understands that everything matters when people have choices where to take their business and a shiny gas station bathroom will bring them back every time.
As I mentioned reading this book in spurts worked best for me. Even so, I felt that Miller occasionally went off on unrelated tangents or used too many examples to prove a point, which made even his short chapters seem long. To be honest, I didn’t find his writing particularly interesting or his presentation especially clever. And parts of the book seemed drawn out so that at 200 pages the cost of the book, $21.95, might seem reasonable to most people.
My favorite chapter was entitled “Tend to the Little Things.” He briefly describes one of his children who the family called the town crier; as a toddler she would state the obvious, e.g., “Dad, the sun is shining.” Miller uses this analogy to articulate the importance of stating the obvious, i.e., organizations need to pay attention to “the little things.” He uses the example of a gas station that he prefers to all others and goes out of his way to give them his business. Why? Because it has clean restrooms! The gas station owner understands that everything matters when people have choices where to take their business and a shiny gas station bathroom will bring them back every time.
February 3, 2011
Outstanding! has so much content in it, it's a book to be studied by a team. And yet the short chapters make it a delightfully easy read. As a supervisor for a small Customer Service group, I am constantly looking for information that will encourage and motivate my employees to provide the best in service to our customers. With little to no budget in which to meet our training needs, I have made it a personal priority to seek out books, articles, free online training, etc., materials that will benefit my staff members both in their personal lives as well as their professional careers. I had the great fortune to find John G. Miller's book, "Outstanding -- 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional" in a local bookstore. What a find! Mr. Miller has a fabulous ability to draw the reader into each detailed description of his personal customer service experiences. As a book that is difficult to put down, I feel as a dear friend is recounting each of the experiences. Many stories are his experiences of the kind of outstanding service someone with the right attitude provides regardless of their circumstances or surroundings. When the entitlement mentality is not weighing people down, they can shine brightly and give us hope that outstanding customer service can and does exist! An absolute joyful reading! I am now reading his QBQ! and Flipping the Switch books on personal accountability and will also share them with my team.
April 26, 2010
This book is about how to better your professional organization. I heard about it on the radio and it sounded really good. I'm weird. I listened to it and thought of the principles and how they apply to the organization of the family. I found it sort of enlightening in that regard. In the audio - the author talks too fast, though. It's hard to wrap your brain around one point before he's off to the next.
April 6, 2011
It's surprising how little effort it actually takes to be considered "outstanding" by your clients in just about any category. What's also surprising is how little effort is taken by companies and individuals to actually BE outstanding. Follow the lessons and learn from the stories in this book, and you'll be well on your way to becoming OUTSTANDING.
August 17, 2013
I enjoyed this book, because it was simple, to the point and filled with real life stories of outstanding service and flat out bad service. If you follow these principles your organization will be outstanding. The key is individuals understanding these principles and putting them into practice. Read this book and start doing it.
March 21, 2015
I admit I didn't expect anything exciting from this book as I've read his other three books and other similar business books. I would be reading along when suddenly a diamond just lands in my lap. It is an excellent book. I love that his books are not to long and the chapters are short. I recommend all 4 of John Miller's books with QBQ! being the first on the list of to-read.
April 2, 2010
Had to read for work. It's like a Dan Brown book: Short, overly simple chapters, trite ideas, rehashing other's stories, etc. Finished it in about an hour & thought that time would have been better spent doing anything else.
July 11, 2011
This was a simple read, but John provided powerful and great tips on how to make your organization/company outstanding. John included 47 tips with some work and can help your company stand out from the competition and be excellent every single day.
July 19, 2012
Miller has a very clear and effective communication style. Some of the 47 ways to make an organization exceptional include personal responsibility, clear communication and not forgetting the little things when serving customers.
February 11, 2013
I just read this book "on tape" and loved it! Also enjoying the QBQ book. Nothing tremendously new, but as a business owner/team leader/manager, this is really good material to review over and over and over.
May 14, 2013
Probably more of a 3.5
It's mostly common sense... the problem is that trainings in organizations often lack common sense.
Sometimes, Miller could have used a stronger illustration to demonstrate a strategy.
It's mostly common sense... the problem is that trainings in organizations often lack common sense.
Sometimes, Miller could have used a stronger illustration to demonstrate a strategy.
March 9, 2010
great stuff made simple.
March 2, 2011
An Ok collection of anecdotes on what it takes to make an outstanding organization. Similar to Good to Great but without the research and data.
March 22, 2011
Love this book! Will definitely use the ideas in this book to make our charter school, Esperanza, outstanding.
April 14, 2011
Useful ideas and things to think about no matter what kind of organization you work for.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews