Don't overdo it

Everyone wants to be the best at what they do, right? And make the very best product? Seth Godin asks, is this a good idea?

The washing machine I used this morning had more than 125 different combinations of ways to do the wash... don't get me started about the dryer. Clearly, an arms race is a good way to encourage people to upgrade.

I wonder, though, if "good enough" might be the next big idea. Audio players, cars, dryers, accounting... not the best ever made, not the most complicated and certainly not the most energy-consuming. Just good enough.

In a world where people buy boots suitable for climbing Everest, buy kitchenware designed for chefs, and want that 125-method washing machine that Seth laments, his suggestion sounds radical. Yes, there's a niche for these best-of-category products, and there are people making good money there.

But most of us aren't going to scale big mountains, play our favorite sport like an Olympian, or cook like we're the premiere chef of Paris. And that's why "good enough" is an important part of the market.

Decide where you're going to play, and don't be embarrassed if the "good enough" segment is where you fit. Just make sure to design your product so that the price and the margin is good enough, too. And honestly, you may have a bigger impact on the world with what you do that the elites of your market - because the "good enough" segment will always be much bigger than the "best of."