The Mundanity of Excellence

A huge barrier to effectiveness is lying. We do not necessarily identify the barrier as lying. But, lying it is.

The form of lying, which this barrier takes, is wishful thinking. The barrier results from the way we tend to lie to ourselves. Hoping that life is something other than it truly is.

I recently read an old article, by Dan Chambliss, a professor of sociology at Hamilton College. The article was titled, "The Mundanity of Excellence."

The truth is, achieving excellence is a rather mundane matter. It is an accumulation of small, seemingly trivial, things.

A lot of us would like to think excellence is achieved thanks to natural ability or talent. According to Chambliss, this mindset soothes by, "relieving those of us who are not excellent of responsibility for our condition."

As Jean-Paul Sartre has said, "What people would like is that a coward or a hero be born that way." Wish, though we may, this perspective turns out to be false.

Chambliss did the research, for his article, by studying Olympic swimmers. Dan theorizes, "Olympic sports, and competitive swimming in particular, provides an unusually clear opportunity for studying the nature of excellence. In other fields, it may be less clear who are the outstanding performers: the best painter or pianist, the best businessperson, the finest waiter or the best father."

Chambliss's conclusion? Excellence is mundane. Meaning, the behaviors and attitudes, which culminate in excellence, are not superhuman or special. They are ordinary, indeed, run-off-the-mill.

The professor takes direct aim at the talent myth. Saying the notion of 'talent' obscures more than it illuminates.

Talent is a weird, amorphous, catch-all term. According to Chambliss, "Talent is indistinguishable from its effects." For this reason, he writes, "Perhaps there is no such thing as talent."

Additionally, the requisite amount of talent, to achieve excellence, is not enormous. The author writes, "The amount of talent needed for athletic success seems to be strikingly low." Specifically, he says, "Wilma Rudolph had polio as a child, then came back to win the Olympic 100 meter dash."

In no way is this meant to say that excellence is easy. But, it is also not mystical. Indeed, it is mundane. For this reason, as I once heard said, it is important that we learn to, "Master the mundane."

It is a lot like how Drucker said you achieve productivity. Drucker said you get productivity, "The way the drill sergeant of old drilled recruits, which is you do the same thing every day. But you do it, and you do it, and you do it."

Excellence need not be some elusive concept. Let's keep it real. We cannot increase our effectiveness, we cannot take things to the next level, if we continue to live lies and half-truths.