Tuesday I wrote about why “do everything with excellence” is hogwash.
I didn’t mention it in the post, but I wrote it in reaction to this post by David Foster which I read Monday.
I think we’ve mistaken excellence for something unattainable, more like perfection than what might reside within the reach of the average man or woman.
You can define excellence this way, and it’s achievable to anyone who wants it. Here it is:
Excellence is doing the best I can with what I have where I am in the time allotted.
I have a lot of respect for David, but that definition of excellence just doesn’t work for two reasons.
1) Results matter.
Giving your best effort is important. But if your best stinks, it’s not excellent.
We may want to evaluate ourselves based on effort, but the truth is we expect results from everyone else.
Not convinced? Why not buy some beach front property in Louisiana? BP made a great effort to cap and contain the oil spill. Or maybe you’d like to listen to a collection of love songs by Leonard Nimoy (aka Spock). He put quite a bit of effort into them. Or maybe you’d like to use the first pick your fantasy football draft on Betty White. I’ve heard she’s a hard worker.
Steve K posted a comment on Tuesday’s posts that reflects the views of a lot of people have about excellence:
The process (effort) and the product (effect) are to be considered separately… ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men’ – that, to me, is excellence.
We do need to honor God with our best effort. But let’s be honest, more often than not, focusing on the effort instead of the result is just an excuse to justify a poor result. That’s because…
2) We can influence the time, effort, and resources that go into any task.
When a person says, “I did the best I could with what I had in the time allotted,” he’s really claiming he had no influence over the resources or time put into the task. That is almost never true.
If you’re doing poorly on a work project, as a spouse, as a parent, as a volunteer, as a wind surfer, or whatever, you always have the option to put more time into it, spend more money on it, or ask someone for help.
It’s going to cost you something in some other area, but the first step is to recognize that you are not powerless. You get to choose.
The second step is to consciously choose to allocate your time and resources according to what’s most important to you (as opposed to what you’ve always done or what other people think is important). The third step is to have confidence in those choices.
Instead of making excuses for why some of the things we do don’t produce excellent results, let’s take ownership of choices we make. Be confident in the choice to do some things with “averageness,” so you can put your time, effort, and resources into doing other things with excellence.
Do you agree that excellence is more about results or effort? Why? Give some examples.
Economics is the study of allocation of scare resources. By definition economists believe that there is a limit to resources, so they study how best to use them. There are some negatives to starting with the assumption that resources are scarce. (One of those is that God is not limited.)
But most discussions of excellence seem to start without the assumption that you lose something by making a choice. Most of the people that I know that are really good at something (excellent) are really good at a couple of things and just do those. They understand their strengths and stop doing the things they are not good at.
The entire idea of specialization in the work force is not that the person works as a janitor does janitoring better than everyone else. It is that given the skills and resources available to that person, being a janitor is the best balance of reward to effort based on their skills. (That may or may not include some intangibles like work hours, stress level or mission of the organization.)
I am a nanny. I also have a pair of masters degrees from one of the top universities in the country. Most nannies do not have advanced degrees in theology or social work. But based on my skills and the resources available to me, and based on the other choices in my life, my choice is to be a nanny now. That means I cannot at the same time be the leader of a large non-profit or church. It means that I cannot easily meet some friends for lunch (without bringing two kids).
I think we need to be honest, results do matter. But I am not sure that excellence, as traditionally defined, really should be a pursuit. In fact, quite often, when we look at scripture and church history, we see people that were not that great that pursued things that did not seem reasonable. Rarely do we see anyone in church history strive after excellence, for excellence sake. We see people strive after God and what God has set before them, and sometimes it is excellent.
Adam, you raise some good points. When it comes to spiritual pursuits, God can overcome any scarcity of resources and only God can produce spiritual results. I also think its important to point out that excellence doesn’t necessarily mean polished or professional looking. It’d probably be worth doing a whole ‘nother post specifically on excellence in ministry.
Paul, I agree with
1) Results matter
and
2) We can influence the time, effort, and resources that go into any task.
But, accepting the 2nd point does not guarantee the 1st will be as we expect or desire. And if you don’t have your priorities straight, an extension of ‘It’s about results, not effort’ is – the ends justifies the means, or “can’t win, don’t try”.
Recently God laid it on my heart to do a Bible Study in my new (old) apartment. So right away I wrote down a list of people that that I could think of that weren’t all “churched” people and prayed about who I should invite. It was interesting that God said, “Invite them all, whoever comes do your best. I have 2 people coming right now out of a list of 20. This is a pretty casual study. What if I decided because there were only 2 people I wouldn’t have to study so much? How much should I do with the 2? What if these 2 people are christians already? Do I still need to put as much effort into it?
I believe that I should be giving the study my very best, 100%, whether it is 2 or 22. My best should be excellent when I am sharing God’s word.
The same should be at my work. For me I had to really think about what I could do at work that would make it excellent. I watch hot dog buns, hamburger buns, brats go by and through a slicer. That’s it, that’s my job. (boring) How do I strive to make that excellant? I don’t think it is just about that specific part of the job but also how I communicate with fellow employees and my work ethic. Am I making sure that all the buns that go through my line are perfect? Am I cleaning my area? Am I talking bad about other people that I work with? (I need to work on that one) You can see how it all makes a difference when you write it out in black and white and when you really think about what God is offering to us and the world you want to be excellant all the way.
Hi Patty. Thanks for your comment & great questions. Good points that excellence & results are not all about numbers, particularly the number of people who show up. We have to look at the bigger picture & attitude is a big part of it.
“Instead of making excuses for why some of the things we do don’t produce excellent results…” — I agree with this statement.
So what is your definition of excellence? Can you only measure excellence where a specific desired result is the outcome? Or can you measure excellence with anything?
Can one consider herself to be an excellent CEO, an excellent best friend and an exellent mom, all at the same time?
What about when a person chooses the option of putting more time in, spending more money on and asking for help and his/her spouse still doesn’t think the person is being excellent in his/her role?
Great questions LaShorne. I’d like to give them some more thought. What are your thoughts on them so far?
This is an old post so you might not even answer, but I wanted to know what you thought about this question:
Do you think it is possible for a person to want to be excellent but never become excellent? If so, then it is because they made the wrong choice (God meant them to be in another career) or that some people are just destined to not be excellent?
As an artist I spend a lot of time perfecting my craft, but I am still a very average artist. Contemporaries of mine I know put in half the time, and half the effort, and get better results. Some have said “oh, well you need to work smarter not harder” but even with the most savvy research, learning, tips, and habits at my disposal I am just less capable than other people who seem to have natural underlying talent.
Should I accept that I am not meant to be excellent, or should I continue knowing that I am just a failure because I haven’t figure out how to be excellent?
Hey Matthew, sounds like you are a bit frustrated with your art. First thing I would mention is that is that research shows it usually takes about 10,000 hours of practice to become a master at anything – http://www.squidoo.com/10000-hour-rule. Have you worked at your art that long?
Second thing I would ask is… why are you creating art? Is it just to earn a living? Is it to earn the praises of others?
Or is it because you want to create or express something? Is it something you’re passionate about?
It’s pretty rare for an artist to make a living with their art, but that doesn’t mean they should stop creating their art.
Well you did say excellence is about results – what is the point if one is not capable of excellence? I haven’t done 10,000 hours just yet but assume I reach there and my work is still not excellent, even if I am making a paycheck off it. What is the point?
Because… “Do Everything with Excellence” is Hogwash:
http://www.liveintentionally.org/2010/07/20/%E2%80%9Cdo-everything-with-excellence%E2%80%9D-is-hogwash/
That is pretty much the opposite of everything I’m taught in the professional art world. Often it is very much “you don’t deserve what you got unless you are capable of being better than everyone else.”