Mediocrity in your Face

“We realize that the low expectations of our culture, of our community of artists, even, instill complacency in us. We look at our work and unconsciously use a scale to evaluate it that is based on the mediocrity and lack of vision in our culture. If we can't work shoulder by shoulder with great people, we should take time to remove ourselves, to live in a kind of solitude where our standards can become the standards of our own passion, of our own souls.”
by Alex Cox of Italy Journal

The fundamental problem with the criticism of mediocrity is that it expects the mediocre to remove themselves from the positions of leadership and influence; this is a naive proposition. Such proposition affords the mediocre the luxury of pointing their finger towards the more capable.

The curse of the mediocrity is that the mediocrity’s worst and weakest can turn the talented against themselves. The more mediocrity is pervasive the more talented people suck up to it; if you can’t beat it, join it. “Team spirit” is one of mediocrity’s catch cries and spiritual strongholds for it best serves the mediocre. Understand me right. I’m not against team work or team structures. It is the spiritual notion of team that suppresses the blossoming of the talent. Too often we see organizational grand slogans like: “Innovation & fresh ideas!”. What they really demand, however, is fresh mediocrity while promoting those with the most insatiable appetite for mediocrity. The extent of mediocrity saturation in organisations - both governmen & private sectors - is amazing.

What’s than the solution, is there one?