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There are few things as uninspiring as an organisation or a team that pursues mediocrity. A manager who tells you not to push forward new information. A culture that coerces you to recreate the last safe available option that works. The pressure toward homogenous thought and agreement.

Mediocrity is a demon you have to face down every single day you go to work as a web professional. There will nearly always be a safe answer that you can replicate. There are always going to be standard templates you can employ to tick the box. You can always most cheaply create products that fail to meet a client’s business objectives but technically work on the minimal list of desktop browsers handed to you by a client.

One of the most powerful statements you can make today in your workspace is to tape these two words onto the office wall… maybe above the water cooler – “FUCK MEDIOCRITY”.

Because mediocrity comes about by failing to address natural forces within your organisation or team. For example, mediocre managers tend to hire people dumber than themselves that can be ordered around. Mediocre managers don’t look for the best and most talented recruits who will challenge the status quo – people with new ideas and new ways of doing things pose a threat. Mediocre managers often reward the safe replication of a minimal product to meet short-term objectives and penalise discussion or creative solutions.

Whereas outstanding managers tend to hire the best and the brightest talent who are willing to challenge and creatively investigate new problems. Outstanding managers want people on board who make them look smarter and to challenge ideas. They let smarter people loose on their projects.

At the same time, outstanding managers are aware of their own in-group out-group behaviour – attributing successes to the in-group and failures to the out-group. This natural bias, once identified, can be compensated for so that new ideas from out-group members can make it onto the table.

Mediocrity also comes in a cultural spiral that you need to monitor. All groups, all organisations have a natural tendency to create homogenous thinkers. This needs to be designed around quite purposefully. The problem is that the normal way we form and normalise our groups is to achieve some sort of consensus. This means new people coming into the team are being indoctrinated into the culture just as much by our language and stories as by our collective ideas about right and wrong ways to solve problems. The challenge is to foster that homogeneity where appropriate – we don’t pee on the bathroom floor or abuse clients – and stamp it out where it’s counter-productive – we don’t take the easy path every time just because it’s there.

So if it’s so easy to say what causes mediocrity then why is it so difficult to find teams who aren’t stuck in it? I guess the problem is that mediocrity isn’t a binary problem. In the end, mediocrity is a slide you have to constantly watch against and possibly even prune your workforce to avoid. Look for passion, creativity and a belief in whatever it is you do. Avoid mediocre managers because they usually refuse to hire anybody smarter than themselves.

Make your business more attractive to the best recruits by constantly designing mediocrity out of your process. Or settle for mediocrity.