My wife and I don’t watch home improvement shows that often, but occasionally, we’ll have HGTV on for most the afternoon, forgetting that it isn’t really our cup of tea.  I got sucked into a couple of episodes of a show about flipping houses.  Again, not my thing, but at the time it was strangely captivating.  By the time I was halfway through the second show, I realized what the implied lesson is: figure out what is “good enough” and then do it.

The way they figured Good Enough out was to set out what the home values of the neighborhood are, what shoppers would expect from your home, and deliver.  You have to at least match your neighbors: certain counter tops, appliances, the works.  But if you go too far beyond your neighbors, people interested in the house may be less interested in the neighborhood.  So you find the sweet spot and you crush it.

So why does this sound so fake and wrong?  It makes good business sense, but there’s something about “good enough” that just isn’t.

The second episode, and the one that made me see this, revolved around these two guys that invest in these flips together.  They went against the show host’s advice and wanted to do all new cabinets in the kitchen.  They thought the investment was worth it.  The host shook her head and told the audience that would be a mistake.  So when the guys tore out the cabinets, they discovered mold.  Lots and lots and lots of mold.  Mold that went all over.  They had to tear out the wall and the floor and they were spun way off of their projections as whole parts of a couple rooms had to be rebuilt.

Here’s the kicker, had they settled for good enough, the next owners would eventually be saddled with the cost they incurred.  Nobody knew it was so bad, but patchwork cover-ups and Band-aid solutions would have netted these guys some profit and an unsuspecting customer a real nightmare.  And the host gave them an “I told you so” in the end.  But I was thankful that they didn’t settle for Good Enough.

Good Enough really just isn’t.

When I worked for Saginaw Habitat for Humanity, we drilled it into our volunteers to never utter the phrase.  Nothing is Good Enough.  Do it right.  If you screw up, then fix it.  we weren’t building a good enough house for poor people, but a great house for a worthy buyer.  We never settled for good enough.

If you don’t read Seth Godin, his books or blog, you should.  He argues that we must give our best to what we do.  That we shouldn’t be known as the ones who provide Good Enough service.

For us, we must expel Good Enough from our vocabularies, just like the word should.  Get rid of it.  Tear apart your inner house if you must, but get rid of Good Enough.  Good Enough is not ethical.  It is not how Christians behave.  You are so much better than Good Enough.  Replace Good Enough with The Best I Have to Offer immediately.