"Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status."
- Laurence J. Peter

Overheard outside the wire today:

"Best is not good enough. You have to be better."

Personally, I would be happy with being the best (it would be a good start)... but I guess I can respect the sentiment: Don't rest on your laurels. Don't ever believe that just because you're #1, you can chill and stop working as hard. There are always improvements to make - and if you feel that there are no improvements left to make, then you aren't looking in all the right places.

If anything, I have more respect for "be better than the best" than "give it 200%". (Hint: There's only 100%. 100.000001%+ is a fallacy.)

It does kind of remind me of those detergent commercials in the 70's and 80's that advertised "whiter than white whites." (No comment.) I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder.

Even if you're the best, there is always someone better, stronger, faster, smarter or hungrier than you just waiting for a chance to take over the top spot. Being the best is not good enough. You have to be better.

Have a great Tuesday, everyone. :)

Labels: bureaucracy, percentage, performance, perspective