On the standard, and what the Office will and will not be asked to carry

A brief statement for the Briefing, since the Office has been receiving a number of questions about direction.
Excellence is not an accident. It is a standard, and a standard is only useful if it is held in rooms where people would rather not hold it. I have held it in the boardroom, which is by appointment, and in the lobby, which is not, and I have found the standard travels better than the furniture.
Some of you have asked what the Office intends to do next. The answer is what it has always done: decide what matters, say so plainly, and let the rest of the house catch up. Direction is not the same as doing every task oneself. The team handles the architecture. My role is direction.
I would add one observation for the members who write to us. A room that asks a great deal of its leader is usually a room that has not yet decided what it wants. Thank you for your perspective. It has been received, and it is under review.
Excellence is not an accident. Neither, I am told, is the carpet.