In literature, in media and most certainly in the workplace, mediocrity carries a decidedly negative connotation. Nobody wants to be merely mediocre.

Google “mediocrity” and you’ll get results such as “What To Do About Mediocrity on Your Team,” and “Mediocrity Is a Virus — Here’s How to Banish It From Your Life.” Article after article tells us that mediocrity is a slippery slope to complete failure.

Excellence, on the other hand, has become an aspirational gold standard. To strive for excellence is to dodge mediocrity at all costs.