This post originally came out in August of 2020. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the concept of “good enough,” and you’ll see more about that in this space soon. (Thanks, KH!)
We can’t be great at everything. It is reasonable, and smart, to decide to focus our skill and resources on getting really good at just a few things.
But in the process of specializing, it’s worth taking look at what we have decided goes in the “it’s fine to be ‘good enough’ at this” column.
And then the question is, “good enough” for whom? For what? In which circumstances? I admit I have a bit of an axe to grind here because many people have decided that communication is something they can be “good enough” at.
And that’s fine…for a while. But I can’t tell you how many clients we have who realize one day that the communication or presentation skills that were okay for the last job they had aren’t good enough for the new one. The expectations are higher. Their skillset isn’t sufficient.
Communication is the river that carries the cargo of your work. Whether you need to build consensus, describe your vision, advocate for a team member, persuade an investor, or give feedback, communication is how you do it.
When we care about our work’s efficiency and impact, it’s worth investing the time to be great at communicating.
