[Continuing our series “ABCs for Managers…”]
Mahatma Gandhi. Michael Phelps. Charles Spencer Chaplin
Albert Einstein. Steve Jobs. Leo Tolstoy.
Greatness comes very few times across generations. Very few of us are fortunate to be touched directly by them. But all of us are hugely influenced by them.
Greatness inspires. Greatness teaches. Greatness moves mountains.
And Greatness debilitates…..
We often aim too high listening to incomplete stories of greatness.
We often are misdirected listening to incorrect stories of greatness.
We often leap without looking linking risk as the first step to greatness.
Most of the time, we all just need Good. Good done daily compounds with surprising ferocity. Sometimes it even touches Great.
Good has different meanings at different points of time:
- Sometimes Good means compromise. So launch that much delayed product instead of aiming for greatness thinking Steve Jobs did the same. He did not. Check the first iPods or iPhone…..
- Sometimes Good means taking a hit even though you are not at fault. Read about the Tylenol crisis and J&J’s response to it.
- Sometimes Good means incomplete. Imagine all the effort and initiatives going in controlling & curing diseases.
- Sometimes Good just means being there. Think of all the humanitarian agencies which work in war-ravaged or disaster-struck areas.
Good does not have a fixed standard. Determine what needs to be done to do a Good job:
- Aim at the nearest point. Hit it
- Then aim at a point slightly farther. Hit it
- Repeat
Try Good. It is almost always Good Enough. And the hard days suddenly become simpler…
