It’s Not Enough to Be Good Enough

Some years ago, I came across a one-page document entitled, “If 99% Were Good Enough….”

It made a big impression on me. 99% seems to be a reasonable goal to strive for, though when you read the list, you realize how much damage can be done when people are working at 99%. The original list is at least 20 years old and so many of the examples are no longer as relevant. However, I found another list on Linkedin from 2015/2016 that had some terrific examples of the chaos that could occur when people are happy with 99% competency.

2015/2016

• Four planes landing at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago would be unsafe every day.
• One million tax documents would be lost.
• There would be a major plane crash every 2 days.
• There would be 47,000 ATM errors every hour.
• 880,000 credit cards in circulation would turn out to have incorrect card holder information on their magnetic strips.
• 285 malfunctioning automatic teller machines would be installed in the next 12 months.
• 15,517,200 cases of soft drinks produced in the next 12 months would be FLAT.
• 415 entries in Webster’s New International English Dictionary would be misspelled.
• 591 pacemaker operations would be performed incorrectly this year.
• 3,468,500 defective tires would be shipped this year.
• 262,000 incorrect drug prescriptions would be written in the next 12 months.
• 3,488,200 books would be shipped in the next 12 months with the wrong cover.
• 38,322 pieces of mail would be mishandled in the next hour.
• 42 babies will be given to the wrong parents each day.
• 307 incorrect medical procedures would be performed by the end of the day today.
• 303,260 income tax returns would be processed incorrectly this year.
• 4,314 phone calls would be misplaced by telecommunication services every minute.
• $5,761,900 would be spent in the next 12 months on DVD’s and CDs that won’t play.
• Your bank cards would be compromised 30 times more yearly than they already are.

• 18,322 pieces of mail mishandled in the next hour (the US Postal Service Rating is only 73).
• 20,00 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written in the next 12 months.
• 22,000 checks deducted from the wrong bank account every 60 minutes.
• 2 new-born babies dropped by doctors each day!

It is easy to let our minds wander when we are in the middle of a tasks or interactions at home or at work.

We are human; mistakes happen, it’s unavoidable. However, if we make a concerted effort to stay focused on our tasks or interactions, there will be a lot fewer small and big mistakes.

A tip of the glass from me to you.