The Good is the Enemy of the Excellent
The Good is the Enemy of the Excellent
Sunday, 6 January 2008
The fireworks were certainly sensational - but the view at the top of this blog was not the view that I saw. By the time we arrived by the Harbour, all the good vantage points had been taken, so we wedged ourselves into a position where we could see the Bridge looking down a narrow street between two buildings. The view we had is shown by the samples of my images to the right of these words. The view was spectacular and certainly not-to-be-missed, but we experienced nothing of the spectacular display overhead and across the Harbour.
A book by Jim Collins called Good to Great – Why some companies make the leap … and others don’t makes a similar point. In chapter 1 of the book, Collins makes a powerful observation, saying:
I would express this in a slightly different way - the good is the enemy of the excellent. There is a famous saying ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. In today’s world, that is a recipe for mediocrity and second-best. These days, ‘good enough’ is simply not good enough. Just because something is working well does not mean it is the best possible alternative, or that it is an optimum solution. Too often, the good can be the enemy of the excellent, and so perhaps that well-known saying should be re-expressed: “if it ain’t broke, then you haven’t tried hard enough to break it and find a better solution”.
We are always able to give more to others whatever we may think to the contrary. In our hearts, we know that we are as lazy as we dare to be. Great schools and great lives have always been built on that generosity of spirit which is shown in the “more” - giving to others without counting the cost. Once the mentality of “enough is enough’ takes over, we will condemn ourselves to a mediocre existence that is the antithesis of greatness.
All of this sounds like the basis of a great new year’s resolution. And on that note - HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Each of the images on the right of this blog can be clicked to see an enlarged image.
Fireworks over Sydney Harbour, 1st January 2008
Photo above courtesy
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