Mediocrity isn’t just rewarded, its demanded

March 17, 2016 12:47 PM

I’m infuriated by the demand for mediocrity.

People around the world
are achieving massive success creating products that are cheap to produce, easy
to manage, safe to launch, quick to sell, simple to monetize, likely to scale
and effortless to imitate.

Which sounds like a brilliant business model. And
admittedly, there’s part of me that admires that level of shrewdness.

But the
only caveat is, this approach means you have to be willing to accept
mediocrity. You have to be okay doing generic work. And for those of us who
didn’t come here to swim in the shallow end, that’s simply too big of an
existential risk.

Personally, I prefer to create challenging work that pushes
people. I’m not interested in the hot new get rich quick online cash grab
content generation thought leadership snake oil bullshit factory.

I’m here to
make art. I’m
here to get someplace rarified. I’m
here to launch something that lasts forever. I’m here to build things that are worth
noticing, worth owning, worth pointing to, worth crossing the street for, worth
standing in line for, worth taking a picture of, worth paying extra for, worth
showing off, worth socializing around, worth being criticized, worth sharing
with others, worth being tired for, worth getting yelled at for, worth being
sore for, worth sitting trough traffic for, worth coming back for, and worth
saving for years.

That’s my filter. Those are the measures of worthiness
against which I execute my work to assure that mediocrity is never hot on my
trail.

And so, next time you’re staring down the barrel of the entrepreneurial
gun, face to face with a situation where mediocrity might be exalted, remember
the words of the greatest songwriter alive. Morrisonsang:

Gotta
fight every day to keep mediocrity at bay, you gotta fight with all your might
not to get in the bleeding heart’s way, because when you just go through the
motions, they won’t want to hear a word you say.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…

What are you doing consistently that average people aren’t?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

For a copy of the list called, “11 Ways to Get More Ideas Than You Know What to Do With,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *

Scott Ginsberg

That Guy with the Nametag

Author. Speaker. Strategist. Filmmaker. Inventor. Singer. Songwriter.

[email protected]

www.nametagscott.com