Good is Great

For those that know, one of my favorite words is good. 

Indeed, I embrace it.  Use it.  Promote it.    

But guess what: every now and then I get the, oh, how should I put it, "provocative flak" for my extensive use/promotion of the word good - especially when it comes to performance.  For sure, I do use good a lot (and inversely, when needed, the word bad) when talking about performance.  It's kinda my thing.  And everybody should have their own "thing," right?      

Now, the flakers issue, for the most part - stems from their perspective that when discussing performance, I should use/promote more dynamic words like great, extraordinary, fantastic, brilliant, incredible, awesome.  In other words, from their viewpoint, good isn't good enough.  As they say, opinions are like belly buttons: everyone has 'em.  And that's a good thing (see, did it again). 

That said, my opinion - lets even call it a platform - is pretty simple: while there may be lots of more exciting adjectives that have more snap, crackle and pop ... good is still good, and bad is still bad.  Word. 

When it comes to performance, consistent good trumps the occasional supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (c'mon, ya gotta watch the video ;).  The fact is, good is very attainable - 24/365.  On the other hand, those other sexier adjectives are often a struggle for most, even some of the time - let alone 24/365.  In other words, its better to keep it real, and set expectations that are realistic and realistically achievable. 

You follow? 

Don't get me wrong: love those bigger words, as well.  I do.  And if you are ready and able to go for them - then go for it.  But first things first.  If we can't get good in steady supply, it's gonna be a stretch to achieve something bigger.  As that crazy cat Nietzsche said, "Those who would learn to fly one day must first stand and walk and run and climb and dance: one cannot fly into flying."  True that. 

Heck, just look around.  It's pretty apparent that consistently good performance is in short supply. It’s a big problem for business, family and life.  As such, it’s impacting our society, economy, and the world in general.  So instead of struggling to attain difficult to achieve words - I have confidence that for the most part, and for the most of us - we can get to good.  Consistently.

Good is Great ;) .