I heard a quote the other day – “Good is the enemy of the best”. It does make sense. To me anyway. But I thought, if I was “the best”, then it would be hard for me to get anyone to do anything for me, since I know I could do it better. That makes a huge problem in business. I believe it’s called micromanaging. I think it’s a terrible way to run a business, since it breeds fear (since people are constantly worried if they have lived up to your expectations), and it wastes time when you double check their work.

Stephen Covey talks about empowerment in organizations. Training employees to think for themselves and entrusting the work to them…allowing them to take pride in their work.
They might not do “as good” of a job as me…but a lot more gets done. From a client’s perspective, 0% of nothing is still 0% (i.e. they see nothing complete). I think I would rather structure my business on Covey’s idea of principles, rather than the methods that I think are “right”. That way, I can leave my business in the hands of someone I trust, and know that while they may not do it the way I would, the business will still flourish. That’s successful to me.

So, to be the best, or to be successful? You choose.