I seem to have a lot of discussions about only needing to focus on being Good Enough (introduced here). In most cases, it seems to be interpreted as having a sub-par offering. This is, by definition, not the case.

In some fields of endeavour, anything above 90% of ‘perfect’ will meet the needs of the customers – at least most of the customers, those who are the target of the firm. That Mr Whippy ice cream, that automated car wash at the local petrol station. We might never admit our standards are this low, but in a lot of cases, they are. As long as the offering meets or exceeds our expectations, we are satisfied.

We may articulate our expectation as being higher so as to make it sound like we are discerning. For most of us, what is the difference between a 90% haircut, and a 99% one? We are likely to say we prefer the 99% haircut, but may never even know.

The more complex and technical the offering, the higher standard of delivery we expect. When the dental equipment in your dentist’s office is cleaned between patients, we would hope for something well above even 99%. The transfer of data from your cloud provider to you needs to be as close to 100% as possible to be usable. We will often talk about ‘5 9s’ or ‘6 9s’ quality (i.e., 99.999% and 99.9999% respectively), based on the standards of the quality movement.

Good Enough does not mean we accept 90% for everything. The acceptable level is defined by customers in each situation. They will define a specification that needs to be met – even if the specification is not explicit. This specification defines the level of quality required from you.

Building to 90% is a lot cheaper than building to 99.999%. If your customers demand – and will pay for – the latter, then that is your good enough level. Understanding the difference will have a significant impact on your business and your stress levels.