WING TIPS

A cadet at the Air Force Academy once asked me, "Sir, if you performed a task perfectly, would you have performed it with excellence?" My response, "Maybe, maybe not. Perfection may sometimes equal excellence, but excellence does not always equal perfection." We went on to have a thought-provoking conversation.

The Definitions
Perfection means; accurate, thorough, complete, or conforming absolutely to the description of an ideal task. If you are a top sprinter running the 100-meter dash and blow away the competition winning the race by 4 meters, you've finished first and, arguably, run the perfect race.

My definition of excellence means doing your absolute best, every time. In the race example, if you know in your heart that you didn't run the best race you could have because if you had, you could have won the race by 7 meters, you've perfectly completed the task, but you didn't perform with excellence.

On the other hand, if you have done something to the very best of your ability, but it wasn't perfect, then based on your capacity, you have done all that you could do and performed with excellence.

The Rule
My parents demanded that I do my best in school, but perfection was never their objective. They desired that I would give my all, and they were intuitive enough to understand the subtleties of the difference. At home, the rule was that I could play with friends or participate in after-school activities if I maintained good grades in my courses. If my grades dropped, the restrictions kicked in. If I was playing a sport, for example, I had to come off the team.

In junior high, I was on our school basketball team and had made the starting five. I was also struggling with a system briefly introduced in the 1960s called New Math. My dad was pretty good at math, but even he had trouble understanding the concepts when I went to him for help with my homework. When I got my report card, my math grade had slipped from a B to a C+, and I knew the rule would require me to quit the team. When I showed my dad my report card, he said, "I see you are still battling with that math." My response was simply, "Yes, sir." He said, "Keep after it, and you'll eventually do OK."

Off the Team?
I expected him to reiterate the rule and tell me that I was off the team, but he didn't say anything else. The next day I didn't know whether I should stay for basketball practice or go home because of the rule. I decided it would be better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission, so I stayed for practice. When I got home, my father never said a word, and I continued to be on the team.

Demand Excellence, Not Perfection
Years later, as I reflected on that situation, I realized that my dad only wanted me to do my very best, and because he knew I was putting in the time and effort, he was OK with relaxing the rule. Perfection was not demanded. Striving for excellence and doing my best was the goal, and in his eyes, I had met the standards.

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A QUOTE TO CONSIDER

“I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence I can reach for; perfection is God's business. ”

-Michael J. Fox

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