Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

"Good enough is never good enough."

In talking about "Good enough is never good enough," let's first say that we need to be working on the right things, or great,or even being close to perfection won't matter. Working on the right thing in the first place is a prerequisite to never being satisfied with where we're at.

Assuming we're working on the right things, from there we need to have the heart and mentality of never being satisfied with where we're at. To me there's a difference between being content and satisfied. Contentment speaks to me of really enjoying what you're doing and reaching for the highest level possible you want to go. Being satisfied speaks to me of losing the desire to get better, and having no sense of urgency going forward.

We can be content but still operate at a high level of urgency, whereas being satisfied takes away that desire. Being satisfied is another way of saying you think you've arrived. In a competitive marketplace there is no such thing as arriving.

There is always someone out there working to make something work better or disrupting the whole marketplace as it is.

This is why Kelleher said "Good is never good enough," because there will always be someone working on making something better. That's what makes business so competive, great and helpful to consumers.

I don't think it's hard to get our people motivated in trying to get better. Most workers want the excitement and satisfaction of improving, developing and creating something. It's built into our psyche.  

So no matter what happens or what level we reach as a business with our processes, products, services or customer service, there is never such a thing as we'ver arrived. Those that embrace this attitude will be far more successful than those that want to settle down into maintaining the status quo.

Other Herb Kelleher Sources:

Special Event

Leadership: The Essential Herb Kelleher

The CEO as Brand Guardian

Herb's way

Speeches and Presentations from Southwest Leaders

Southwest Airlines: The Hottest Thing in the Sky

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