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·      We spend most of our time doing ordinary things.

·      You’re spending the time doing them.

·      Why not try to do them better.

 

During my career I did lots of cool things – most were just trying to make them a little bit easier or better. I got involved in building applicant tracking systems because I wanted a better way to store, track, and retrieve data. Everybody got involved with their own reasons and ideas. One of my colleagues came up with what I thought was the simplest idea that, one that made everyone happy: he suggested that when hitting the return key, the cursor would automatically go right to the next space on the app: sounds simple, but remember, this was in 2003 and things like that were almost revolutionary. When that project launched, everyone was amazed – but to us it was just doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. In life and work, we’re surrounded by things that seem mundane, but they’re full of opportunities to take one simple thing and make it as extraordinary as we can imagine. Chances are it won’t be that hard – incremental improvements rarely are. But the thrill and wonder of seeing them competed is worth it. Make something ordinary into extraordinary today.

 

John W. Gardner (1912 –2002): American educator, politician (Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) under President Lyndon Johnson), and founder of Common Cause.