Being OK with Being OK

This old saying has cost me a ton of stress:  "If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing well."  This sounds like basic good values, nothing more than having high standards.  But when I have far more commitments than time to get things done, it's a recipe for stress and exhaustion.  Better advice is, "If a thing is worth doing, ask yourself if this is something you are passionate about doing, something that lines up with your skills, interests, and values.  If it does, do it with excellence.  If it doesn't, it's OK to just do an OK job."

As an example, I'm about to take on, in my spare time, a leadership role in a volunteer organization.  The organization has done lots of different kinds of work over the last 50+ years, and the new Board that starts in January will be mostly new people, busy people who are wary about committing to too much volunteer work.

As I've been preparing for the "Kickoff Meeting" in two weeks, I originally defaulted to my usual pattern of thinking we will need to do EVERYTHING with excellence.  But how?  Do we have the skills?  Do the volunteers have the time?  Will we find someone who cares deeply about every committee and every role?  The thought of trying to get the organization to do everything with excellence has been overwhelming and stressful for me.

I finally had a Eureka moment this morning.  During the kickoff, we will discuss everything that MUST be done, all the roles that we MUST play based on our by-laws, all the Committees and Roles without whom we cannot function.  And for each role, Committee, and task, we will define the MINIMUM requirements. What does it take to just be OK at the job?

Then we will explore what we want to excel at based on the skills, interests, and passion of the people we have.  If we have people with great computer skills, we might choose to dramatically improve our website and electronic networking and communication.  If we have people with a passion for enhancing the business district, this might be our "signature strength".  Maybe we'll pick 2 or even 3 priorities, but in other areas we'll  just do whatever we need to get by.

This reminds me of one of the things I read about in the classic business study, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap . . . and Others Don't, by Jim Collins.  One of the primary differences between the successful and unsuccessful companies is that the great ones put all their energy into practicing whatever they were most passionate about and avoided spending time elsewhere.