Perfection is a lofty goal, but it rarely happens in the day-to-day workplace. And why should it? In most things, striving for perfection represents a waste of resources better used elsewhere. No one really expects you and your team to do everything exactly right every single time. Most of the time, good enough really is good enough—as long as you achieve the minimum requirements necessary and maintain your forward momentum. While you do owe yourself, your team, and your organization a consistently high level of performance, there's a certain point in all everyday tasks where attention to detail turns to perfectionism and, worse, to micromanagement. Both practices inevitably stall productivity. Exceptions to the Rule Admittedly, some tasks require a higher standard. When it's … [Read more...]
Bridging the Gap Between Good Enough and Great
"As for the genius of innovation, clearly the one percent spark of inspiration is nurtured by a positive culture. But the 99 percent perspiration ingredient comes from employees who love what they do, as well as where they do it, and who invest in that Holy Grail of productivity called 'discretionary effort'." -- Organizational consultants Stephanie Quappe, David Samso Aparici, and Jon Warshawsky. In one of my Organizational Management courses I took while working on my MBA, we watched a series of TV commercials by Amalie Motor Oil, bragging about how its products exceeded all minimum government standards, ending with this tagline: "Better than it has to be—Amalie." I remember being confused: Why were they proud of being just good enough to squeak by? As I gained more experience in the … [Read more...]