It was after 10pm but I’d promised I’d make my boys soda bread. It was for a school event, everyone had to bring some food that is typical for their family – of course, Irish Soda bread was the answer!
I’ve been making Soda Bread for years, my mother and grandmother made it too. Aside from being delicious, it’s also special – a taste from a home my kids barely have memories of.
So there I was, an unreasonable time to be in the kitchen, chatting with my brother on the phone and mixing the ingredients as quickly as I could. I had placed the dough on the trays, the oven was ready, flour sprinkled on the top and as I traced the knife in the traditional cross on top of the bread I realized something was missing.
It was too sticky, too smooth, too moist. I quickly scanned the ingredients and realized that I had indeed forgotten one.
The thought flashed, it won’t really matter. It’ll taste fine. I’ll just throw them in the oven as is.
Now I know the dangers of perfectionism, in all parts of life. But this reminded me of the opposite danger, the belief that, as we’d say in Ireland “ah sure, it’ll do”.
Sometimes good enough really is good enough. But often it’s not.
As I scraped the sticky flour off the baking sheets, back into the bowl and added the missing ingredient, the mix was tough but I knew, 100% that I was doing the right thing.
This is true, most of the time, in business too.
To go the extra mile.
To do it right for your client.
To make sure you’ve done your very best.
To give value every time.
To go above and beyond expectations to delight others.
That’s what make your business thrive. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about standing for quality and really caring about results, not just for you but for your client too.
The bread came out great – I knew the kids would love and when my head finally hit the pillow I fell into a deep satisfied sleep.
What are you doing really well this week?
