Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Pleasing Everyone

I've recently become a big fan of Seth Godin and in one of his recent blogs he asks a series of questions, including: "Who are you trying to please?"

In your business, who are you trying to please? Are you trying to please your customers? Are you trying to please the businesses you work with? Are you trying to please the printer and the builder and the designer? Are you trying to please everyone, or do you just not care at all?

You can't please everyone, all the time. And yet, that doesn't mean you shouldn't care about anyone either. I think, in this case, I'd recommend a little philosophic reading about Aristotle's Golden Mean.

This is the philosophy of moderation, of finding your middle ground. Sometimes extreme will push the boundaries and make you an instant success. And sometimes being extreme will bury you in the dirt. Sometimes being in the middle is what you want.