Iv'e Been Thinking: Things I Have Learned - When Good Enough Isn't Goo...

Iv'e Been Thinking: Things I Have Learned - When Good Enough Isn't Goo...: "Human nature is fascinating! Throughout life, we are all faced with daily issues that challenge, excite and shape us. Most of us woul..."

Iv'e Been Thinking - Cones, The Silent Invasion

I was driving homeward on my usual route when all of a sudden the road ahead had turned from its normal tree lined aspect to a blur of orange and white. Netherlands supporters I thought, a riot of blazing orange traffic cones, had assaulted my space and offended my sensitivities. Where do they come from?

They littered the roadside just as a dog would shake its wet coat in every direction. Then I got to thinking about this most used and abused icon of the world’s highways and byways.

Did you realize that the first traffic cone appeared in New York in 1914 and attributed to Charles P Rudabaker. His first design was made in concrete. Since then the humble cone has infested roadways and marshaled drivers from every Nation around the world. No one knows the population of these cones nor the numbers produced each year. We do know that Taiwan and China pump out a million each month @ $10 each. The University of Texas buys 600 per year and drunks world-wide, gather them on returning home from the pub.

Cone removal (let’s not say stealing) is part of the unwritten core curriculum @ every University around the world and there is almost a written rule that requires their placement in the most amusing of situations. In Auckland a cone even appeared atop the Sky Tower, (our tallest Building). Apparently the most popular spot in Scotland is on the head of the statue of the Duke of Wellington outside the Gallery of Modern Art museum in Glasgow, and sightings have been recorded on most iconic buildings, statues and in trees. In fact I can attribute to personally rescuing many a lonely cone from the chill of a winter’s night, into the warmth and safety of my home, only to see it evicted in the morning (along with myself).

There is even a society for the preservation of cones and a Guinness book of records for the most collected cones, (Englishman of course) and although the most popular colour is Orange, the colours are limitless as are the materials used in their manufacture. The traffic cone was voted 839th of 1160 nominations as Icons of Britain. How much do you know about the humble cone? Take the online survey. There are web pages to the Appreciation of Cones, Blogs and Commentaries , Cone Art, Cone Liberation Organization , Cones as Pets , Cone Conspiracy , Cones of Literacy, Adopt a Cone, and even Cone Marriage.

Well I got to thinking and here’s the gut’s of it!

1. Have you ever rescued a cone?

2. Where is the remotest place you have seen a cone?

3. Next time you see a lonely cone, why not take a picture and make a Kodak moment, after all, cones dedicate their life to our safety and well-being. For sure, they will be around long after wev'e gone! Maybe you could send me some interesting pictures of "Cone Invasion."

Thanks to Lori O'Conel, who actually took the time to pen this ode to a cone

O stalwart shield of the careless and rash
Egyptians of old built cone temples for you
Orange Angel, you stand, constant and true
Your sacrifice diverting each fatal crash.

What divine hand shaped your perfect form?
What gods stole your color from the sun's rays,
Infused it into that primordial clay
And kissed it to life with the breath of a storm?

How many pass by, never knowing that they
Are sheltered beneath your wings of gold,
Kept safe from the clutches of Death so cold.
But thankless, unmoving, and faithful you stay.

O Sentinel, your spirit no human could tame
Without you, our roads would ne'er be the same.

-Lori O'Conel

Things I Have Learned - When Good Enough Isn't Good Enough

Human nature is fascinating!

Throughout life, we are all faced with daily issues that challenge, excite and shape us. Most of us would say that we appreciate the good things we experience and dislike those which hold us back. For the most part, we are content with the "good things" and content with our good performance.

"The game was really good"
"He did a good job"
"It's for your own good"

These are all common statements that we use and are content with. It expresses that things are fine, acceptable; we are pleased with the outcome. But is good, good enough? "Good is the enemy of best"

Consider the surgeon who operates on the philosophy of good being good enough, when performing open heart surgery!

Or the pilot who is within a degree of his anticipated course - (over the length of a long haul journey, you can actually miss a continent)

Or the Olympic 100 meters sprinter who was 1/10th of a second outside of the world’s best time and gets silver.

Maybe a straight "A" student who was one percent below the pass marks and as a result settles for a "second best" career.

A builder whose foundations are good but not perfect according to the plans, is courting disaster at some point during the storm. Or the accountant, who omits to file your tax return on time, but remembered to go on a world cruise and leave you to it!

You see, there are many times in life when being good just isn't good enough and thankfully, we rest confident in those individuals who shun being good and pursue excellence. Being good is a great place to start, but we should peruse going beyond what is acceptable or good and develop an attitude that takes us into excellence.

Here are some simple things we can all excel in and move beyond the "being good is good enough" behavior.

1. OUR WORD - Never promise that which you know you can't deliver. Being a person of your word, means there will be a cost to you to keep it. I recall a good friend of mine taking his business into receivership because his debtors defaulted on what they owed him. Rather than doing the same to his creditors, he sold his assets and paid off all his debts. When I quizzed him for his reasoning, he said "I gave them my word."

2. OUR ACTIONS- Never do a "good enough" job. What sets you above the crowd is being above average. Average people do average work. I am not saying sell yourself short, but never sell anyone else short either. As an employer and employee, be prepared to go the extra mile.

There is an old Roman custom that authorized any soldier to command a local to carry his amour and kit for one mile. Those with an attitude of excellence carried the armour not for one mile but for two. "Going the extra mile". I make it a point of selecting my team leaders based on their "extra mile" attitude. Clock watchers don’t understand this philosophy and are likely to focus their actions elsewhere.

3. OUR LIFESTYLE- Never let the pursuit of excellence burden others in the process. Being excellent is not an issue of perfection, but an issue of attitude. One can have an excellent attitude and do a less than excellent job, but one can’t have average attitude and do an excellent job.

Why?

To be above the norm of average, we need to excel in our view of average. The saying "I can’t hear what your saying, because your LIFE speaks to loud" rings so true of many an average life. "When all is said and done, it's not what's said, but what's done."

Live life to the full, enjoy life extensively but consider the surgeon, pilot, sprinter, or academic. Their excellence, safeguards our choice of being average.