Junkyard Wisdom

“Moving from good to great is often more work than it is worth.”

Wow, the reaction to that simple sentence has surprised me! Some people (a vocal minority) vehemently disagreed with me.

So let me approach this from a new direction. First, notice something about my choice of words in my post … I didn’t say it is “always” more work than it is worth. I said it is “often” more work than it is worth.

When is it worth pursuing? Glad you asked. Bear with me as I explain.

I’m indebted to brilliant researchers, talented designers, persistent engineers, and any number of other people and organizations that have improved my life. Any car lover who drives a Porsche knows what I mean. Anyone who benefited from a well designed and built skyscraper in Japan knows what I mean. Anybody who has been healed by a great surgeon or inspired by a great artist knows what I mean.

We are all indebted to the greatness that exists in this world.

For instance, I recently finished The Steve Jobs Way, by Jay Elliot. I’m indebted to Apple because of their great products, the economic muscle they bring to our area (I have lived in or near Silicon Valley all my life), and the influence they’ve had on other companies. That’s why I wanted to read this book.

The author worked for years as Jobs right-hand man and the book explores the unique talents that pushes Jobs to greatness as a leader. Curiously, I felt that the book better describes Jobs as a consumer and marketing genius than as a great leader. Either way, all would agree that Jobs falls into the category of “great” when it comes to envisioning, building and marketing world changing products.

But most of us are not Steve Jobs.  The book makes it very clear that we can learn from Jobs, but he’s one of a kind. And Jobs pays a price for the greatness of Apple. So do the engineers who put in 90-hour weeks.

Thus the point of my earlier post:  most of us need to relax and focus on competency, not greatness. The world will be a happier place. You’ll be a happier person.

And yet … we all have a deep desire for something beyond mere competency. Philosophers, psychologists and theologians talk about this inner need to be involved in something more meaningful. It’s an itch that is central to our human condition.

So why not just cut loose and go for greatness, doing what we can to fill that inner longing?

Because too often we measure greatness by our cultural standards. We don’t take the time to think through what “great” really is. We don’t define it. We just pursue the wave of popular sentiment that is clueless about the true meaning of greatness.

Those who chase this wave sometimes achieve this version of greatness. But they often know, deep down inside their soul, that they aren’t great.  There is a void that hasn’t been filled. An itch that hasn’t been scratched.

The faithful might say this inner longing is for a connection with God.  That we all intuitively understand our weaknesses and the disconnection of our soul. That only a relationship with God can scratch the itch.

I’d agree with that.

So we need to rethink our definition of great.  We have misunderstood greatness because we equate it with our own goals, which are easily influenced by what society adores. Moving from good to great is meaningless if “great” is a myth created by our cultural standards.

So when is greatness worth pursuing? When you truly understand what greatness is. If you don’t, it is almost never worth pursuing.