Raise the bar

Photo of someone making a high jump
To raise the bar means to increase the level of difficulty or the standard that must be reached. When someone raises the bar, they make expectations higher so that people have to work harder or perform better to succeed.

The phrase comes from the sport of high jump, where athletes must jump over a horizontal bar. As the competition continues, the bar is raised higher, making each attempt more challenging.

After the team produced such a great design, the manager said they had really raised the bar for future projects.