“What we have here, clearly, are the 23 Twelve Greatest Songs of All Time!”
– A college buddy, after a long exercise at Too Tall’s II, Kirksville, MO, circa 1984-ish
We sat down one afternoon during my junior year of college. Or was it my second junior year? I digress…
Our mission was clear. We were going to agree upon the Twelve Greatest Songs of All Time. It was important work. It needed to be done. And besides, it was nickel draw day at the bar. Dollar pitchers, too!
We worked — hard — for hours. We simply couldn’t get the list pared down to twelve. So, and this may have been prompted by last call, or closing time or something along those lines, we agreed that we had memorialized the twenty-three, twelve greatest songs of all time.
The list has been lost. It was framed and hung, appropriately, over the bar at our rented house. And, none of us could re-create the list. But we know them when we hear them. Even the ones released after 1984. If we’re honest, there may actually be 31 or 32 of the Twelve Greatest Songs of All Time by now…
Had we “settled” for twelve, it wouldn’t have been as much fun. Or as rewarding. And we wouldn’t have “saved” all that money on cheap beer. More importantly, we have a memorable experience which granted us 11/12ths more fun and satisfaction, and still gets laughed about 35 years later.
Budgets are important. Take care not to let them drive too many decisions when we’re trying to grow. (Oh, and budgets are almost always wrong by about the fourth week of the year, so they had dang-well better be flexible and changeable….but I digress yet again…)
Quotas are important. Take care to not make them limiting. Or too low.
A plan is important. Take care not to make it limiting. Aim high enough, and then just a bit higher.
A new personal record in the dead lift or personal best time in the 5k run is cool. Take care not to let it be the last milestone.
When we set limits, we’re settling to some degree. It’s not always a bad thing, it’s just that we ought to be aware of the effect.
If we lead a sales organization — why not challenge the team to go beyond their wildest dreams, and then remove the obstacles that keep them from getting there? Why not reward going beyond, instead of penalizing falling short, at least in equal proportions? Why not think in terms of “What if…?” instead of “If we don’t…?” Why not live in possibilities instead of smaller and shrinking rooms built by those who came before us?
Limits are limiting, unless we take care to expect more.
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