A while back I sat down and made a list of what I call, Enemies of Excellence. It is my goal, at some point, to discuss each of the obstacles at some length. I thought they might be of interest. As with any list such as this, if you turned each phrase around, you would have reasons why excellence occurs. I guess I was just in a negative mood the day I wrote them.
- Inexperience at the work required
- Lack of required qualities for the job
- Absent role models
- The wrong role models
- Indifference toward performance outcomes
- Underestimation of sacrifice required
- Relaxation of standards on part of management
- Self-delusion that excellence already exists
- Shifted commitment from what the organization needs to what you need
- Learned helplessness in the face of obstacles
- Get by today, excel tomorrow…deferred excellence
- Lame-duck mentality…just playing out the game until retirement or next job
- It hurts to work hard, it feels good to take it easy
- Sink to the level of those around you
- Just not in the right frame of mind
- No audience for performance
- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
- Why sacrifice the present for some future reward?
- Why serve others and not myself?
- Passive-aggressive behavior
- The danger of expending great effort in vain
- Creeping mediocrity
- Absence of inspiration
- Bureaucratic frustration
- Battle fatigue
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Requirements beyond reason
- Genuine chemical and psycho-biological explanations for no energy
- Winds of resistance
- Vague motivation
- Vague course of action
- Periodic adjustment
- Distraction
- Prideful aversion to authority
- Self-absorption
- Narrow definition of self-interest
- Entitlement mentality
- Intrusion of external rewards on intrinsic satisfaction
- Sympathy for failure
- Romantically downtrodden
- High value on humility, obeisance
- Meek approach to life
- Type B Behavior
- Self-preservation instinct
- Too cool to care
- Disagreement with the cause
- Unwillingness to serve as martyr for cause no one else will fight for
- Hamlet syndrome
- Peter Pan Syndrome
- Loss of contact with inner child
- Bewilderment
- Ambivalent reaction to emotional labor
- Low expectancy for success
- Low, loss of regard for reward
- Absence of hopefulness
- Explanations for failure easily accepted
- Shifting of blame, responsibility to others
- Shifting of blame to situational factors
- Low burning fire
- Follower mentality
- Sincere failure
- Complexity
- Mixed messages from leadership
- Uncertain values
- Fear of failure
- Fear of success
- Ability to explain away failure
- Culture
- Systemic problems
- Burnout
- Stress reaction
- Plateau
- Comfort
- Reward system at odds with excellence
- Time, management, availability
- Failure in delegation
- Too much too soon
- In over your head
- Overly sympathetic leadership/management
- Failure to recognize learning moment
- Failure to understand causes of failure
- Failure to absorb lessons from life
- Response to perceived inequity
- Deliberate sabotage
- Systematic soldiering
- Technophobia
- Living in the past
- Gunny-sacked issues
- Spiritual dysfunctionality
- Devaluation of importance of excellence
- Absence of goals
- Escalation of commitment to a failed course of action
- Commitment side-bets
- Out from under scrutiny
- Limited self-control
- Confused intra-psychic conversation
- Not playing to one’s strengths
- Aversion to servant role
- Quick fixes
- Short-term view of quality
- Heart just not in it
- Fatigue
- Overwhelming size of task
- Lower-level needs not fulfilled
- Risk aversion
- Limited ability to perform role
- Personality type wrong for role
- External locus of control
- Low need for achievement/growth need
- Task not challenging enough
- Limited opportunity for useful communication
- Over-emphasis on following rules
- Limited creativity
- Stultifying atmosphere
- A little accomplishment takes away desire
- Disconnectedness from others
- Political ineptitude
- Cognitive dissonance that comes from great effort, limited success history
- Resting on past achievement
- Other life commitments
