Decoding the code of excellence – for achieving sustainable excellence

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to elaborate, interpret, discuss and decode excellence in a new way by focusing on some of the critical success factors for attaining and sustaining excellence. Design/methodology/approach The framework used for analysis is an old text which explains how to attain excellence. Literature references from 2,500 years back and to excellence literature from the last 25 years, together with a few case studies, are used to “de‐code” the meaning and the complexity of the old text. Findings After final reflections it is concluded that the old text contains deep meanings and cover the complex nature of attaining and sustaining excellence. The few sentences are a kind of code, a crystallized form explaining how excellence can be attained. Originality/value This kind of analysis has not been done before. It is believed that the findings will have a great value both for researchers and for practitioners as well as organizations which are trying to attain excellence.