What follows is from the Cornell AgriTech Belonging Bulletin. Many thanks to our colleagues Anna Katharine Mansfield and Amara Dunn-Silver, Cornell AgriTech A.C.E. Council co-chairs, who are taking a strong lead with AgriTech’s efforts to grow resiliency and adaptability. If there’s a topic you’d like them to explore, contact Anna Katharine or Amara, or you can submit a suggestion anonymously. For more information on SIPS access & community empowerment efforts, visit the SIPS A.C.E. webpage. You’ll also find previous editions of this bulletin on a wide range of helpful topics.
“Your students won’t know the difference between an ‘A’ lecture and a ‘B’ lecture.”
What feelings does that statement elicit? To a recent PhD graduate in their first year of teaching, spoken by an experienced and well-respected teaching colleague, it was a lifeline. If you find yourself teaching a new course, getting up to speed on an unfamiliar pest or crop in a new job, or simply juggling a lot in life, you might need to hear that “good enough” is OK.
Have you ever felt – in academia broadly, or at Cornell specifically – that your best wasn’t good enough? Understandably, excellence is highly valued in academia, in science, and at Cornell. Yet an unrelenting pursuit of excellence and the belief that our best is not good enough contributes to burnout, among other problems. Perfectionism can be detrimental in both our personal and professional lives. As an organizational value – explicit or implicit – perfectionism can also create a work culture where only some people belong. Making space for “good enough” makes space for all of us to belong and reach our full potential. We are whole people, whose energy and capacity are not infinite. Saying ‘yes’ to good enough is also a form of self-care.
Where did we get the idea that “good enough” is insufficient? You may have heard the phrase “good enough for government work.” Today it is understood to describe average (or lower) quality work. But prior to and during World War II, it meant work that met very high standards set by the government. (According to this reddit post, the phrase was first used in the Canadian Parliament, but we couldn’t verify that from a more reputable source.) Work that meets required specifications and goals ought to be considered satisfactory. Period.
Certainly, putting in extra effort can make a difference, at times. For example, a mentor who went out of their way to help you prepare for a job interview likely left a lasting impression. Maybe a colleague or co-worker put in extra hours to make sure your field trial was planted or harvested on time. But perhaps you can recall an audience – in an academic classroom or an extension meeting room – that would not have noticed if you’d spent three more hours finding better pictures for your slides. And eventually we run out of time to perfect our grant proposals, even if there is always something to be improved.
It’s a balance, with no definitive rule for when to accept “good enough.” But perhaps as we come to the end of what has been for many a difficult and exhausting year (and face the beginning of a new semester, another winter meeting season, etc.), give yourself permission to let at least some things be “good enough.”
If you’d like to lean into “good enough” here are some suggestions:
Celebrate achievements, yours and others. Do you find yourself rushing from one completed task to the next item on the list? Try to pause, even if it’s just for a celebratory walk around your building or part of campus. (Moving your body has other benefits, too!) Be generous with your recognition of colleagues’ work through a SIPS kudos, AgriTech kudos, or Cornell’s Appreciation Portal.
If you are a leader or mentor, normalize ‘good enough’ over perfectionism. This might include encouraging your supervisees to set realistic goals, use their vacation time, and set healthy boundaries around work vs. personal time. It can also include having candid conversations about our responses to mistakes, valuing a growth mindset.
When you can, choose your tasks. We all have seasons of the year or our lives when we have more (or less) energy, as well as work tasks that require different amounts of energy. Maybe today you have the energy to draft a set of slides for an upcoming presentation, but not to start a literature review. Work deadlines are real and can be relentless. When you have the flexibility, picking a task that matches your current energy level allows you to still cross something off your list—and sometimes accomplishing one thing (however “easy”) gives you more energy for the next task.
Say ‘no’. Pick your priorities and be willing to say ‘no’ to what doesn’t fit your schedule or your priorities. Embracing ‘good enough’ means not trying to do everything. You’ll have more energy for what you say ‘yes’ to if you say ‘no’ more often.
At AgriTech we grow things – including the ability to set healthy boundaries and the flexibility to be “good enough.”