MEDIOCRITY

Average: A Kind Word for Mediocre

“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself and lenient to everybody else.”

---Henry Ward Beecher

For years I have believed that standards create mediocrity. In school if a student meets standards, he or she can expect no worse than a “C” and quite possibly an undervalued “A”. Standards make it easy to reach academic goals. Standards limit the push students need to embrace additional accountability. Once the majority knows what the minimum is, that’s usually what they will produce. This kind of commitment doesn’t serve people very well in the “real world.”
Further, talented students tend not to realize their full potential because either they easily meet the standards or there is a lack of a challenge from the majority who are doing just enough to get by. If the only career a person will have is to be a student, then let standards rule. By all accounts, average should never be a goal.
At the workplace, standards also prevent a business from reaching new levels of success. Once a standard is set, the business has capped the person’s initiative. Standards seem to actually de-motivate people instead of encouraging excellence. Larger workforces, principally thanks to their scholastic and collegiate experiences, do the minimum.
One area of the “real world” where standards don’t dictate outcomes is in small businesses or with entrepreneurs. In this situation, everyday is about striving for excellence.
Over 80 percent of all small businesses fail within 5 years. Internet businesses fail at a 99 percent rate. The commitment to excellence is the only barrier between staying open and closing. Corporate standards are pale compared to the self-motivated drive a small business person needs to be successful (this is not to be confused with unethical practices). People in business for themselves work 24 x 7, holidays and possibly 52 weeks every year. Corporate America would love to have that type of commitment.
Beecher’s quote is the perfect mantra for everyone: set your standards high and seek excellence. For those around you, be a great role model and show them what they can achieve. Just don’t ask them to be like you.