Applause doesn’t cost a Dime

A teacher once inadvertently taught me, that the world I was growing into was going to be a strange and peculiar place. At the age of 12 or so I’d received back a test of some sort, most likely Math, but while the lesson taught is bright, the memories of the details are dim. My score was 97% and curiosity demanded I know where I’d lost the sliver of accuracy. That evening I pored over the test, but could find no fault.

The next day after class, I humbly asked where I’d made an error, but was simply told – “You made no error, but nobody deserves 100%” – forty years later, that statement still echoes loudly in my mind, and sadly resonates with much of my experience with people, both management and staff.