Good Better & Best

“Good, Better and Best; never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best.” — St. Jerome

We are all different. We look, act, think, laugh, and speak differently and that’s a good thing. It is what makes the world a better place in which to live. It is my opinion however, we should not be different in our philosophy of how we view life. Unfortunately, life philosophies are all over the map. Some view life as being OK if they just get by. Others feel they should do better than mundane, so good is sufficient. Still others feel being better than status quo is the level to which they should strive. Sadly, only a few percent feel they should be their best. This is the true difference in all of us. It isn’t how we look, act, think, laugh, and speak; it is how we view life and what we should do personally to be our best at everything we do that truly sets us apart from those around us.

St. Jerome was telling us not to become complacent. He was saying we must continually strive to improve our lives while we do our best to make the lives of those around us better as well. In order to go from good to better to best, you must establish a measuring system to know if you are improving. Some people don’t like being measured. I believe that is because they do not want the pressure of others scrutinizing their performance, their overall attitude, or how they use their time, which would reveal why they are not getting better. None the less, if we are going to get better we must work out a plan on how to make this happen.

In the book “From Good to Great,” there are 7 Characteristics spoken of that helps companies, and obviously individual people, excel and move up to greatness.

The seven characteristics are:

· Leaders: Having Leaders in the company or organization that are humble, but driven to do what is best. A humble leader is not one that is above their team, but works with their team to make things happen TOGETHER and for the BEST.

· First Who, then What: It is about getting the right people on the bus, then figuring out where to go. It is about finding the right people and trying them out in different positions. The OLD ADDAGE “People are the most important asset” turns out isn’t really true. People are not your most valuable asset. The best asset is having the right people in your company or organization. It could be stated as: Good people are not your best asset. Better people are not your best asset. The BEST people are your BEST asset.

· Confront the Brutal Facts: The Stockdale Paradox – Confront the brutal truth of the situation, yet at the same time, never give up hope. The key is to maintain unwavering faith you can and will prevail when the dust settles regardless of how hard things may get. One has to believe all things will work together for their good, for their betterment, and eventually for their best.

· Hedgehog Concept: Three overlapping circles: Determine what it is that lights your fire or passion? Determine what you can be your absolute best at then go after it. Discover that which is your driving source/resource for making money and go after it?

· Culture of Discipline: Rinsing the cottage cheese. Dave Scott, six time winner of the Hawaiian Ironman Triathlon, though his training regimen burned at least 5000 calories per day, he would rinse his cottage cheese to get rid of any extra fat. He realized it was the little details that made the difference in becoming great and winning. Most people lack the discipline and character to go the extra mile or do the little things that seem insignificant, but are major in whether you come in second place or win.

· Technology Accelerators: Using technology to accelerate growth, within the 3 circles of the hedgehog concept. The companies and organizations that move from good to great think differently about the role of technology. What this means is they do not use technology as the primary means for igniting transformation. They realize this needs to come from having the right people that are fired up, in doing what they do best and thus turning that passion and activity into making money.

· The Flywheel: The additive effect of many initiatives; they act on each other like compound interest. When you build a great company or organization, there is no single defining action that will bring about a miracle moment causing that company or organization to become great. It will be a combination of each and every person doing their best that will cause the larger flywheel (the overall company or organization) to begin turning and building momentum toward greatness.

Best of LUCK as you
Labor Under Correct Knowledge…

Respectfully,

Rick Cox