Good Enough Syndrome (GES) is a silent killer. It often starts at the top and works its way through every branch in the company. Like a virus, it feeds on the vulnerable and quickly spreads through the weak.
After a short time, it attacks the heart of your company, alters the culture and starts you down a road that will eventually lead to your death.
Are You Infected with Good Enough Syndrome?
GES is a real disease. Maybe not in the medical sense, but it shares many of the same characteristics as the nastiest of bugs.
- It is contagious
- It has visible symptoms (boredom and carelessness)
- It causes harm to those around you
- It can kill you (not really, but certainly your career and/or company)
Good Enough Syndrome causes you to make things that are boring. It seduces you into solutions that meet a need, but don’t exceed it. It persuades you to do work that isn’t risky, that won’t get you fired, but that underwhelms on every level.
Customers Know When You’re Infected
Your customers are quite good at spotting a bad case of GES. They can see it in the checkout line, on the phone, at the ticket counter, in the user interface, in your packaging, and on your invoice.
They can see it everywhere.
If Good Enough Syndrome has infected your company, then you can be sure your customers will be quickly quarantining you from their wallets. That’s the essence of customer experience; create a remarkable one and people will flock to you. Create something boring, something just good enough, and your customers will move on to greener pastures.
I’m Infected! Is there a cure?
You’re in luck my friend. Not only is there a cure, but a vaccine that will prevent GES from ever breaking out again. But it’s not an easy road. It’s the road less traveled; the road companies like Apple, Zappos, and USAA have chosen. It requires a huge commitment (from the top) and a lot of hard work. It means you’ll put long-term culture before short-term profits. It means you’ll talk candidly with your employees and demand the best in everything they do.
Are you ready for that journey?
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Little Hinges on 
as gururaj on 
Yet another great post.
The other day, Bruce Temkin put out a study regarding a survey taken by businesses regarding customer satisfaction. He said, “Interestingly, respondents gave their companies the highest marks in customer service. In research that I completed earlier this year at Forrester, I found that consumers rated customer service the least satisfying interaction.”
I think there is a HUGE disconnect between what a business owner thinks is quality service, and what a consumer sees as quality service. It's time for a paradigm shift! The reason so few companies are incredible (i.e. Apple, Zappos, USAA, etc.) is that so few executives really take the time to listen and understand their customers.
I agree with the disconnect between management and customers. It's a perception problem which, as you said, leads right back to listening to our customers and getting them involved in the business.
Thanks for the comment Nate.
There are 2 types of “good enough”. One is a dangerous lethargy that keeps people from performing at top levels. (Stamp it out!)
The other is related to business sense and spending only as much as is needed to “win” and keep winning. http://bit.ly/dAmcaB If the Lakers are winning by 25 with one minute remaining… guaranteed Kobe is on the bench conserving energy for the next game. Same concept but applied to business. A slightly different spin on “GES”.
Thanks for the thought-provoking post!
Very true about winning and an important point to make.
I hope the takeaway from a post like this is that attitude and culture are paramount to winning in the first place. Some companies start out winners and then slowly die off due to lack of culture support from the leadership.
Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
Very true about winning and an important point to make.
I hope the takeaway from a post like this is that attitude and culture are paramount to winning in the first place. Some companies start out winners and then slowly die off due to lack of culture support from the leadership.
Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment.