Here’s an easy thought experiment that helps illustrate how Good Enough isn’t absolute or inviolable.

You are going to cook your special dish – that one meal you love to make, and you do it so well. How Good does it need to be? Well, that is very likely to depend on the situation: for example, how special is the occasion?

• It’s the first-time cooking for your date in a new relationship.
• It’s a big family dinner to celebrate your partner’s birthday.
• A dinner party with a client and their partners.
• A Wednesday night dinner for you and your kids.

In each case, you are cooking the meal, and something goes wrong. Not catastrophic, but the result is something below your normal ideal. What do you do? Assuming you have the ingredients and time, you may choose to remake the dish from scratch. Or maybe experiment a bit and see if you can invest a fix. Or hide it at the plating stage. Or just take it as it is. Or order in from your favourite Italian restaurant.

You have choices, but the one you will pick is the one that is at least good enough in that situation. What you consider good enough is likely to depend on who you are entertaining.

Good enough depends on the situation and the options available.