Thursday, December 17, 2009

:) Why Mediocre is the best :)

Why Mediocre is the best :)
When you are the best you tend to raise the bar. Expectations rise. Next time requires more effort.
When you are the worst you tend to break the bar.There is no expectation hence no support
So we should aim for the top and never reach there while ensuring we never hit the bottom.
Example 1:
A class of 30 people 5th standard.
A kid comes first.
In 6th standard he will be looked down upon even if he comes second.(बेचारे को डांट पड़ेगी--inspite of being 2nd)
He will be blamed for not studying properly and not putting much effort. (ज़रूर इसने पढाई नहीं की होगी)
On the other hand if he comes last, he will be scolded, scoffed at.
He will be so depressed that he will end believing in himself and remain at the bottom, even dig further.
(may be he'll think - पढाई का कोई फायदा नहीं ; मै ही ढोर हूँ )

Example 2:
A company of 10 salespeople
2001- An employee achieves highest figures
In 2002 if he does lesser he will be looked down upon even.
Again he will be blamed for not putting much effort or not concentrating on work.
If he does worst- he’s sacked. Depression—>end of self belief—>poorer show-->further depression.
Maybe some of that is in built in us, that is why we answer 6, 7, 8 when told to rate something on a scale of 10. We never tend to give a 0 or 10 especially when question Is on us.

A look at 3 viewpoints

View from the BOTTOM-

1. TOP is way too far
2. Everyone visible is ahead
3. Already discarded- not even normal assistance from others
View from the TOP-
1. Everywhere visible is Downwards.
2. Lonely
3. Nothing left to achieve- no motivation
For a normal human both are scary

Just look at A sane MEDIOCRE guy :)
1. Can grow, Can fall.
2. Can achieve=motivation ; can fall= caution
3. Neither lonely nor overcrowded.
Now seeing the 3 cases choose your strategy :)
Had to create a corollary--
You can only rise when you hit the Rock Bottom
When at the top you will only fall. :D

3 comments:

Basketer said...

Assumption:

Someone is appreciated only when he does better than the last time.

Now, consider this:

A motivated mediocre guy has only got so much room for appreciation (better effort each time going from 5 to 4 to...1), whereas a guy at the bottom at 10 has got a lot more space to work with. Also, no one would even consider him a threat so even a small effort gives huge impact..

Putting this in a company scenario, 10 better than last efforts would paint the guy as brilliant (i think 5 would) at which point he would be promoted...so the scale/score is reset to 10 at the higher level...now he can enjoy that position as long as he wants (provided the company is not a high hire fire types) and then take 2-3 steps and be promoted again :)

Like.No.Other said...

Corollary 2 : When you think that you have reached @ the top ... retire !!!. Start something new from the bottom and repeat the same till you think that everything you did was very mediocre ... :)

@ MATMANIAC : thts something everyone should apply a little in their lives ... this way you can enjoy what you do ... you are right ... :)

grawl said...

Mathematically speaking...
Its the most mediocre who is at the peak of the most widely observed function in nature. The Gaussian Distribution.
QED, mediocre is the best.