Your standards are not high enough

Your standards for what you expect from yourself probably aren't high enough.

I know, because I used to accept mediocre performance in myself. My problem was that I didn't know it was mediocre. I thought I was an A player, delivering world-class work, and it was just bad luck that my startup hadn't exploded into the stratosphere yet. If I just kept grinding, eventually it would all turn around. It doesn't work that way.

Often it takes a third party to show you where you're falling short, because it's nearly impossible to see it yourself. For me, that wake-up call came when I spent a few years working with someone truly exceptional.

Around a decade ago, I worked on a project with a woman who gave me a masterclass in what high standards looked like. She was ruthless in her demand for excellence. Coupled with a high IQ and a genuine talent for seeing patterns others missed, she was playing chess while I was playing checkers.

Here's what her standards looked like in practice.

We needed a designer for our project. As we set out to hire one, she told me how,

"When Evan Williams desperately needed a designer for Medium, it took him 8 months to hire the right person."

She knew Evan personally, which is how she knew the story, but she was also telegraphing exactly what kind of process she was about to run. She kept hunting until she found the perfect fit, burning through a reasonable portion of my social capital in the process. But she would not settle.

Eight months into the project, we were having coffee in Carlton. She was unhappy with my work. Again. I looked her in the eyes and said, "I don't know if I can hit the standards you're expecting."

She looked directly back and said, "Yeah, you probably can't."

In that moment, it never crossed her mind to lower the bar. The problem wasn't her standards. It was me.

I've worked with people before who claimed high standards but used them as an excuse for inaction. They lacked urgency, momentum and any real drive to ship. This woman was different. She delivered world-class results at speed, but she simply would not accept second best.

If you've worked with someone like this, you know they can be difficult. It's rarely a comfortable environment. Learning hurts. Sometimes you have to decide how badly you want the lesson and what you're willing to endure to get it.

I've never been the same since.

Extraordinary work comes from people who refuse to settle. They might work longer hours, dig deeper into problems, or iterate until something is genuinely great rather than just "good enough." But the one thing they all share is a complete intolerance for mediocrity.

She never settled.

Neither should you.