In the industrial age,
the boss defines a good job as one that meets spec. If you do what you are told, on time and on budget, it’s a good job.
A bad job, then, is one that requires repair or rescheduling or produces a shoddy output.
In the connection economy, the post-industrial age we’re moving into now, there are two other kinds of work worth mentioning:
A remarkable performance is one that exceeds expectations so much that we talk about it. (Remarkable, as in worth making a remark about). In just about every field, it’s possible to be remarkable, at least for a while, and thanks to the increasing number of connections between and among customers, remarkable work spreads your idea.
It’s difficult to be remarkable every day in every way, though, because expectations continue to rise. Which leads to a fourth category:
A personal performance.
A good job is largely anonymous and forgotten (but still important). A personal job, on the other hand, is humanized. It brings us closer together. It might not be remarkable, but it stands out as memorable because (however briefly) the recipient of the work was touched by someone else. Often, remarkable work is personal too, but personal might just be enough for today.
Well said.
