I read an article about the CEO of C.F. Martin and Co. guitar manufacturers;

Like a lot of growing businesses, he had hired a guy to come in and make the company run more efficiently; therefore, earning greater profits and making the company more valuable.  This guy says to the CEO, “Chris, everyone around here works so hard and I tell them, ‘we aren’t trying to make the perfect guitar.’”  And his response was simply, “We are trying to make the perfect guitar.”

I want to work for a guy like this. You know that thing that people say, “you should get smart clients if you want to do great work.”?  I think the same applies to employment.  If you want to do great work, work with smart people.

As a side note:

In the same article, it told a story about a time when the CEO was at a trade show with his father.  CBS had offered to buy Martin and Co., and his father asks him if he would ever want to be involved in the family business.  His response is that he may be interested, but could not guarantee it. (He was 14 years old.)

In the meeting with the CBS executive, his father says “My son may be interested in taking over the company some day, so we aren’t going to sell.”

It was a short meeting.