The three tiers of Excellence

This is a concept that I use frequently when talking with people, especially when trying to inspire them to do better, but I usually have to re-explain it each time, which gets kindof old. So I figured I'd post it here, and what with the mass media hysteria that will no doubt be generated from the event, the concept would get diseminated throughout the world, become common nomenclature, and I would therefore never again have to explain it myself.

What?! sounds unrealistic? Well, one can wish. In any case, it's worth the time it takes to type it out - you know - just in case.

At some point in my career, I became aware that every professional, be it artist, programmer, figure-skater, or stock-broker, travels through three tiers of excellence (or lack there-of) on their way to being the best.

Tier one is the one we all start out in. You break into this tier by going from an amateur to a professional - by which I mean you at least get paid for your work...sometimes...by someone. Whether or not your work can actually be called "good" or not is perhaps less of a surety, but you've at least made it into the ranks of employed. In this stage, you are doing your best to imitate "the big guys" and you judge yourself by how close you can come to imitating them. Each project you complete will contain some aspects that are "professional-grade" and some aspects that are not. But if you have more aspects that are than aren't, you feel pretty good about yourself. this is the first tier.

The second tier is when you have improved enough that your work is indistinguishable from the big boys. You've perfected your craft, and now tout your work as (in our case) "professional-looking websites" In the second tier, you judge yourself by how perfectly you adhere to the industry standard. Most people only ever achieve this tier, and spend their entire careers trying to keep up with the changing industry, especially in a dynamic one like technology.

The third tier of excellence usually takes you by surprise. It starts by just coming up with innovations - new ways to do old things, and as you become enthralled in trying to figure out how to build a better mousetrap, you wake up one morning and realize that you are the industry standard. You are the one that everyone else is trying to imitate, and are judging themselves based on how closely they can mimic your work.

I myself have only ever briefly achieved third-tier excellence, and in my case, I didn't keep up with my craft, as was soon passed by more ambitious and creative players. Don't ask me to identify when or how, I don't remember the exact circumstances. I only remember the feeling.

And it was a good feeling.