Expedience vs Excellence

It's easy to put something out quickly. It's easy to put something out too early. It is easy to choose expediency over excellence.

All of us have experienced millions of those products, presentations, and ad campaigns (especially local ones) that we then QUICKLY forget. Unless they made such a incredibly poor impression that they were unforgettably BAD. In which cases we file them in the "to mock" category. I'm assuming I speak for you when I say that I want nothing I or my organization puts effort into to be forgettable or mockable.

If you are a leader worth your salt, you want anything that has your name attached to be memorable. You want it to be noteworthy. Don't you?

The problem is that in many situations, we are tempted to choose expediency over excellence.

You do it. I do it.

Why? To name a few reasons…

1. It's easier.
2. We get to check the item as complete. (That always feels like progress)
3. Dozens of emails, meetings, to do items and phone calls are piling up.
4. The harder we try, the dumber we may look if we fail.
5. It's good enough.
   So why should we make the effort (herculean at times) to go from "good enough" to excellent?

Here are a few reasons.

1. You are better than that.
2. You are modeling culture for what passes as "done" in your organization.
3. You are better than that.
4. The mission you are working for is worth excellence.
5. Did I mention you were better than that?

So how about you? Do you feel the pressure for expediency over excellence? How do you manage that pressure? What tips do you have to creating consistent excellent results?