As Jack Hayhow points out in his post today, good enough should never be good enough. But who should be the judge of our work?

When Winston Lord worked as an aid to Henry Kissinger, he presented the Secretary of State with a draft of a presidential foreign policy report. The next day, Kissinger called him into his office and asked, "Is this the best you can do?" Lord responded, "I thought so, but I'll try again." A few days later, Lord turned in another draft. Kissinger summoned him the next day and inquired, "Are you sure this is the best you can do?" Lord said, "Well, I really thought so. I'll try one more time." This routine went on eight times, with Lord submitting eight drafts and Kissinger asking each time, "Is this the best you can do?" On the ninth try, after Kissinger asked him the question, an exasperated Lord said, "I can't possibly improve one more word." Kissinger looked at Lord and said, "In that case, now I'll read it."

Only you can determine when you've done your best. So ask yourself every day, "Is this the best I can do?" Bookmark this post on del.icio.us