This is for all of you who fall in between. For the ones who neither quite make it in life nor are complete failures. For the ones whose lives are an endless blur of bills, loans, mortgages, and paychecks that disappear in a week. For the ones who have never led the field nor brought up the rear. This one is dedicated to all of you who have mediocre jobs and mediocre lives. This is for those who "also ran".
Most of you are probably wondering how mediocrity can possibly be important. Isn't it supposed to be boring? Don't people work their ass off to avoid mediocrity? After all how many films have you seen that portrayed an ordinary person leading an ordinary life. They are always about heroes or villains, the rich or the poor, the upper class or the dredges of society. They are seldom about the "in-betweeners" ( pardon my prosaic license). Most of us were brought up believing that there are only two ways to do anything - Excel or suck. And we are taught, if you suck at one thing, then do something else - something in which you will excel. We are taught that no matter what we do, be it owning a company or cleaning dishes, we have to strive to be the best at that. Commendable advice and admirable goal, but unfortunately not everyone's cup of tea. Some of us just don't turn out that way regardless of education, upbringing and societal influence. Some of us fill in the gaps between the CEOs, Directors, Managers and the machinists and manual laborers.
Before you start to sermonize that this piece is about De-motivating or discouraging people in their pursuit of success, let me point out that that is absolutely not the case. This piece is about why the world needs mediocrity, in fact, why it is as vital as technical / business brilliance. Humor me for a second here - Imagine a world full of go-getters. Everyone strives hard and advances quickly up the corporate ladder whether he started out as a clerk or as a junior engineer. Let us also imagine that the bottom most rungs of the ladder have no dearth of people as new ones fresh from high school or vocational studies occupy them. What happens to the jobs in the middle ? What happens to the data entry jobs, the secretary jobs, the call center jobs? We would have such chaos, in a world that is already so cutthroat, that people would not stop at killing each other to climb the ladder. And all of this is not only relevant in your typical work place but also in sports, politics and any other walk of life. The person who wins a race only does so because the others obliged him by coming anywhere from 2nd to last. If you really think about it, the very act of winning, of feeling that powerful emotion of having triumphed in any endeavor is made possible only because there are people who contrive to do worse than you. The reasons don't matter. Winning and excellence exist because mediocrity allows it to. Losing and failure exist because mediocrity will not fall so low. Sometimes we have to struggle to elevate ourselves from the bottom to the average. Other times we contrive to give up winning positions to fall in between.
But then why does mediocrity exist in the first place. Why do some people succeed, some fail, and some are ...well, just stuck in the middle. There isn't a single answer to this question. Lot of people are so afraid of failure that they will do anything NOT TO FAIL. But they stop at that. They do just enough to elevate them to average. Not enough to make them succeed. Do they not succeed because they are lazy, because they lack motivation, because they procrastinate, because they are unambitious, because they are cynical, because they have complexes ? All of the above undoubtedly contribute to mediocrity and as successful people would have you believe, these are not the only reasons. I think that there is far more to it. A lot of factors have to come together to ensure success, some of which we can control and some that is beyond our control. You can be the most hard working footballer in the world but you might never feature in the first team of any team simply because you lack the talent to match your hard work. Cases in point are the umpteen number of European club level footballers who begin their careers, languish and then end their careers in some obscure 3rd division club. Even in top clubs like Barcelona or Manchester United, there are footballers who never quite make it into the first team throughout their careers.
There is also the widespread notion that if one fails or is average in a particular endeavor, there is always an opportunity or a task that one will succeed in or be the best at. Unfortunately, there are certain characteristics and behaviors of individuals that do not change regardless of the task that they do. And it may so happen that these things can undermine one's pursuit of success in which ever task or endeavor he chooses to indulge himself in. Hence, the end result might become mediocrity across the board - in one's career, family life and social life. One can well bring a very valid argument to the table - Can one not do a mediocre task with high degree of perfection? Isn't that a sign of success, however localized the context maybe? In my opinion, that is not success. The way I see it, you can only be so good a secretary or typist (no offense to people in those jobs).
How do people handle mediocrity though? Short answer. Not so well. Most people hate mediocrity and will do anything to get ahead of the curve. Some will altogether abandon their pursuit and choose another calling. Yet, there are some, who choose to embrace mediocrity. Believe it or not, some people actually are happy with an average job and an average life. They do just enough to stay afloat. And at the end of the day, don't we all spend our lives in the pursuit of happiness? If some of us find it in mediocrity, then so be it. So it is kinda unfair and demeaning when the successful show their utter disdain for mediocrity. It would behoove them to remember that they are where they are, they are what they are because of the mediocre.
There is a saying that goes " No one remembers the guy who came second". Well, I beg to differ. The guy who comes in second or even third are vaguely remembered at least by a few. The guy who finishes last also has the dubious honor of being remembered for failing but the ones that are truly forgotten are the also-rans, the ones that finished in the middle. It's high time the world remembers and recognizes the importance of the average. So, my mediocre friends, stand tall and be proud, of what you bring to this world, and try to find the happiness in your mediocrity. And if , in future, you should rise above it, remember where you came from and what you were.
P.S : Most of you would construe this article as negative and pessimistic. Still others would find it the product of a lazy mind and an inability to succeed. You are welcome to your opinions. After all I am not making claims of greatness or even validity of argument of this article. It's a mediocre article by a mediocre writer at best ! :) :)
Most of you are probably wondering how mediocrity can possibly be important. Isn't it supposed to be boring? Don't people work their ass off to avoid mediocrity? After all how many films have you seen that portrayed an ordinary person leading an ordinary life. They are always about heroes or villains, the rich or the poor, the upper class or the dredges of society. They are seldom about the "in-betweeners" ( pardon my prosaic license). Most of us were brought up believing that there are only two ways to do anything - Excel or suck. And we are taught, if you suck at one thing, then do something else - something in which you will excel. We are taught that no matter what we do, be it owning a company or cleaning dishes, we have to strive to be the best at that. Commendable advice and admirable goal, but unfortunately not everyone's cup of tea. Some of us just don't turn out that way regardless of education, upbringing and societal influence. Some of us fill in the gaps between the CEOs, Directors, Managers and the machinists and manual laborers.
Before you start to sermonize that this piece is about De-motivating or discouraging people in their pursuit of success, let me point out that that is absolutely not the case. This piece is about why the world needs mediocrity, in fact, why it is as vital as technical / business brilliance. Humor me for a second here - Imagine a world full of go-getters. Everyone strives hard and advances quickly up the corporate ladder whether he started out as a clerk or as a junior engineer. Let us also imagine that the bottom most rungs of the ladder have no dearth of people as new ones fresh from high school or vocational studies occupy them. What happens to the jobs in the middle ? What happens to the data entry jobs, the secretary jobs, the call center jobs? We would have such chaos, in a world that is already so cutthroat, that people would not stop at killing each other to climb the ladder. And all of this is not only relevant in your typical work place but also in sports, politics and any other walk of life. The person who wins a race only does so because the others obliged him by coming anywhere from 2nd to last. If you really think about it, the very act of winning, of feeling that powerful emotion of having triumphed in any endeavor is made possible only because there are people who contrive to do worse than you. The reasons don't matter. Winning and excellence exist because mediocrity allows it to. Losing and failure exist because mediocrity will not fall so low. Sometimes we have to struggle to elevate ourselves from the bottom to the average. Other times we contrive to give up winning positions to fall in between.
But then why does mediocrity exist in the first place. Why do some people succeed, some fail, and some are ...well, just stuck in the middle. There isn't a single answer to this question. Lot of people are so afraid of failure that they will do anything NOT TO FAIL. But they stop at that. They do just enough to elevate them to average. Not enough to make them succeed. Do they not succeed because they are lazy, because they lack motivation, because they procrastinate, because they are unambitious, because they are cynical, because they have complexes ? All of the above undoubtedly contribute to mediocrity and as successful people would have you believe, these are not the only reasons. I think that there is far more to it. A lot of factors have to come together to ensure success, some of which we can control and some that is beyond our control. You can be the most hard working footballer in the world but you might never feature in the first team of any team simply because you lack the talent to match your hard work. Cases in point are the umpteen number of European club level footballers who begin their careers, languish and then end their careers in some obscure 3rd division club. Even in top clubs like Barcelona or Manchester United, there are footballers who never quite make it into the first team throughout their careers.
There is also the widespread notion that if one fails or is average in a particular endeavor, there is always an opportunity or a task that one will succeed in or be the best at. Unfortunately, there are certain characteristics and behaviors of individuals that do not change regardless of the task that they do. And it may so happen that these things can undermine one's pursuit of success in which ever task or endeavor he chooses to indulge himself in. Hence, the end result might become mediocrity across the board - in one's career, family life and social life. One can well bring a very valid argument to the table - Can one not do a mediocre task with high degree of perfection? Isn't that a sign of success, however localized the context maybe? In my opinion, that is not success. The way I see it, you can only be so good a secretary or typist (no offense to people in those jobs).
How do people handle mediocrity though? Short answer. Not so well. Most people hate mediocrity and will do anything to get ahead of the curve. Some will altogether abandon their pursuit and choose another calling. Yet, there are some, who choose to embrace mediocrity. Believe it or not, some people actually are happy with an average job and an average life. They do just enough to stay afloat. And at the end of the day, don't we all spend our lives in the pursuit of happiness? If some of us find it in mediocrity, then so be it. So it is kinda unfair and demeaning when the successful show their utter disdain for mediocrity. It would behoove them to remember that they are where they are, they are what they are because of the mediocre.
There is a saying that goes " No one remembers the guy who came second". Well, I beg to differ. The guy who comes in second or even third are vaguely remembered at least by a few. The guy who finishes last also has the dubious honor of being remembered for failing but the ones that are truly forgotten are the also-rans, the ones that finished in the middle. It's high time the world remembers and recognizes the importance of the average. So, my mediocre friends, stand tall and be proud, of what you bring to this world, and try to find the happiness in your mediocrity. And if , in future, you should rise above it, remember where you came from and what you were.
P.S : Most of you would construe this article as negative and pessimistic. Still others would find it the product of a lazy mind and an inability to succeed. You are welcome to your opinions. After all I am not making claims of greatness or even validity of argument of this article. It's a mediocre article by a mediocre writer at best ! :) :)
