When `good Enough' Is Not Good Enough
Posted by Arthur Cooper on: 2005-08-25 17:43:27
by Arthur Cooper
(c) Copyright 2005
http://www.arthurcooper.com/
There are times when the most important thing to do is just
to get the job done.
For example, you have to finish writing a report and send it
to a senior member of your company so that he can read it
before he leaves on an overseas sales trip.
Or maybe you must prepare a quotation for a potential
customer before a set deadline.
Perhaps your team must finish creating a new product and
have it made ready for a previously publicised launch date.
It could be that you are a writer. If so you will know all
about deadlines. Magazines have regular publication dates
that cannot be missed under any circumstances and it is
pointless to deliver an article for inclusion once that date
has passed, no matter how good the article.
In all these cases there is an externally imposed deadline
with which you simply must comply. You have no choice. You
meet it or you miss it. If you meet it your work will have
some value. If you miss it your work will be worthless.
These are circumstances in which you cannot afford to
disregard the time it is taking in order to seek absolute
perfection in what you are doing. You just have to get as
close as you can in the time available, and then deliver
your work in whatever state it then is. Something – anything
– is better than nothing. It is ‘good enough’.
Take the example of a new software product. Endless hours of
testing and retesting can be spent eliminating every last
little defect and bug that could conceivably come to light
under the most unlikely of circumstances. But there comes a
time when the product must be launched. If you wait forever
the market need will have been met by some other company’s
product – perhaps not perfect, but ‘good enough’.
You need to know when not to seek endlessly for perfection.
But you also need to know when ‘good enough’ is NOT good
enough. You need to know when you should be seeking
something better. ‘Good enough’ is no way to run your life
on a regular basis, and you should certainly never aim for
this. You should never accept second best if best is within
your grasp. If you aim for the best you will stand a chance
of getting somewhere close. If you aim for second best then
second best is the best you will ever achieve.
Don’t be content with a quiet life at work in which
everything chugs along in the same old way. Just because
nobody is complaining it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be
looking for improvements. Just because a procedure works it
doesn’t mean that it cannot be done better. Just because you
are meeting your targets it doesn’t mean that you couldn’t
do better still.
If you have worked for any length of time in commerce or
industry you will know that there are plenty of people
content with second best. They do a reasonable day’s work,
but they never excel. They never go above and beyond the
basic requirements of their job. They do a steady job, but
are never exceptional. They never look to improve working
practices or suggest better methods. They never put in that
exceptional effort to increase output.
They will never be the leaders or the innovators. They will
never rise to high positions of responsibility. If you want
to stand out and advance then don’t be like them. Don’t do
work that is ‘good enough’. Go above and beyond.
There are, of course, those who are content with third or
fourth best. They come to work, do the bare minimum
required, and go home. Their idea of ‘good enough’ is what
they can get away with. They will tell you that you are a
fool to work harder. They will tell you that your efforts
will never be recognised. They will criticise continuously
but do nothing to improve the situation. Don’t listen to
them. Don’t succumb to their creeping influence, which can
spread like a cancer throughout an organisation. Just ignore
them and keep giving of your best.
So be proactive instead of reactive. If you see a job that
needs doing, do it. Constantly seek out ways to do things
better. Put yourself in the place of your customers. How can
you improve the service you give them? How can you answer
their needs quicker, cheaper, more fully?
The fact is that the winners in this world are those who are
not content with the way things are. They are the ones who
seek to improve. They are the ones who are not content just
to cruise gently along. They are the ones who put in the
effort. If you want to succeed and become a winner then you
must do the same.
So be constantly on the alert for improvements. Always look
for better ways to do things. Never give less than your own
best effort. Above all don’t ever fob others off by saying
something is ‘good enough’ when it isn’t.
‘Good enough’ just isn’t good enough.
About the Author
Arthur Cooper is a business consultant, writer and
publisher. For his mini-course 'Better Management' go to:
http://www.barrel-publishing.com/better_management.shtml