Good Is the Enemy of Great, a poem by Andrew D. Carson

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Poems by Andrew D. Carson

Good Is the Enemy of Great

Good is the enemy of great,
And much that is fair may rob of more
For easy satisfaction tempts us all,
And snares us in its facile comfort.

First, save us from the proud leader,
Who chest thumps and pens his own PR,
And chases after quick acquisitions
Like frat men downing beers at homecoming.

Second, save us from the impersonal visionary,
Who says What before deciding Who
(For people are not programmable
With system patches to be downloaded).

Third, save us from the nonstop booster
Who applies some whitewash and calls it fact,
But who fails in the basic alchemy
Of drawing faith from a true mirrored image.

Fourth, save us from the merely competent,
A curse that kills by leaving well enough alone,
Which hides from us our one best course,
And that equates wisdom with tradition.

Fifth, save us from the bureaucracy,
Which crushes resolve under stifling weight,
And by taxing genius erodes discipline,
Until one must fill out forms to think.

Sixth, save us from the IT zealots,
Who may believe that tech is a magic key
Leading the way and incurring all costs,
When bell and whistle become the goal.

Seventh, save us from the quick fix,
The magic bullet, the dramatic revolution,
And those who eschew the patient application
Of one step after another, toward improvement.

Our will to become great will help us endure
All manner of trials, all insults to pride of place,
All discomfort of lost habits, all lack of spotlight,
All confrontations with facts, and all simple tasks.

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Note: In 2005, a North Carolina company, MSS Fulfullment, published a version of this poem as part of a marketing campaign. It's reproduced below.