Going The Extra Step: Or What One Degree a Difference Makes

How many times have we completed a project or assignment and a couple of days later wondered “If I had just added….” or “It would have been better if I’d….”?

What would that project or assignment have looked like if you had gone that one extra step to make it really great rather than just completing it?

Recently, I was looking at some motivational videos for a training class that I was presenting.  I found a great one called 212°.  The video is about what happens when we go just one more degree.

“At 211° water is hot.  At 212° it boils. And with boiling water comes steam.  And with steam you can power a locomotive.  It’s that one extra degree that make all the difference.”

The video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLtMemBHbXo) goes on to show how an extra tenth of a second can win Olympic medals and how many seconds separate first and second place at the Indy 500.  It’s an extremely inspirational video that asks the question, “How can one extra degree of effort on your part make you more successful?”

When I see the video, I ask myself, “How many times have I completed something but not gone one more degree?  Where would I be today if I’d just gone one more step or completed that extra mile?”

Napoleon Hill was an American author who spent most of his life studying the most successful entrepreneurs in American history.  He analyzed men like Ford, Edison and Carnegie at length.  He concluded that success followed predictable and distinct patterns of behavior and suggested that all men and women have similar options open to them.  Hill argued that great success and achievement were available to any and all who would choose to follow certain requirements which he spelled out in his many books.

Hill believed that going that extra step separated the great from the good.  It’s like the 212°.

People do a job – a great job – and not know how close they are to truly being excellent and achieving a breakthrough – they are at 211°.  Often they don’t realize that 212° is just around the corner. If they would push just a little bit more, they could achieve even more.

I’m not suggesting that every job we do requires that extra degree or step.  However, I am saying that there are times we settle for 211° when we know or suspect that one more degree will move the project to a whole new level but because of time or priorities we decide not to do more.

I don’t like second guessing my life choices – they are in the past and I’m happy with who I am and what I’ve done with my life.  But what about tomorrow?

Take one project or assignment that you are working on this week – give it that extra degree, one more step – and see what happens.

If you haven’t seen this video, it’s well worth going to.

Berni Hollinger helps companies solve problems through patterns. As a Professional Quilter and CFO / Controller, she sees things differently. As a highly experienced CFO, Controller, Accountant, and Financial Consultant, she has led financial departments for Fortune 100 companies increasing bottom line growth and compassionately leading and training employees and restructuring processes to maximize profitability in the publishing, printing, subscriptions / fulfillment, manufacturing and transportation sectors. She is a Professional Quilter, and Quilting Instructor, creating lasting memories through exclusive designs of one-of-a-kind memory quilts.

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