Day 17-Mediocrity-is the name of the game

Of the many lessons that I have learnt after a few years of working in the corporate world and a few others in education, I have come to realise something about this nation that disturbs me. I use the word Nation and not the world because I do not know about the other races and so I refrain from giving my opinion on them.
In case you have been fortunate enough to have an extremely talented person as a relative or a friend or if that person happens to be you-someone who wouldn't settle for anything less than excellence, you might have noticed that these people are usually what the society would call "unsuccessful" or "unpopular". There is no place for excellence today. Usually, the very well dressed, jargon rattling, fair skinned person gets preference in any meeting/presentation. The child who finishes first and writes what the teacher thinks is "good" gets his A+. The teenager who says "I want to be a doctor" is considered "in the right track".
Many a times I have wondered why that fair skinned beautiful colleague always got her promotion (though she doesn't deserve it) while the one who did extraordinary work wasn't even looked at. What is worse is that, such people , who strived for "excellence" are also branded as "asocial" and "not fit to work in a team".
Nobody cares if you produced an excellent piece of work..what they care about is..how fast you can spin off something and how "glamorous" you make it look. Quality..well..not so important.
It is after many many years that I came to terms with the fact that...the most successful organisations do not just put up with mediocrity..they actually "celebrate" it.

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