My latest article for Caleb is about the concept of "Good Enough." The idea struck me when I saw a preview for the new Bond movie and noticed in it that 007 is once again using the PPK. I then happened to glance over to my DVD collection and Dirty Harry was plainly visible. I got to thinking how James Bond and Dirty Harry had very different ideas about what was "good enough" in terms of their chosen sidearm.
...and thus began a long and winding pattern of thought that started to look like an article once I met a guy in a gunstore looking for a gun for his mother.
Good Enough
Short version:
James Bond and Dirty Harry had completely different ideas about what was "good enough" as a sidearm. If we assumed both were real, both would have had ample experience to back up the idea of their preferred solution being "good enough" for their purposes.
I contend that "good enough" is properly understood as the conclusion reached after rational consideration of all the relevant factors in play...the right-now answer one has based on their understanding of the problem they're trying to solve, the resources available to them to solve it, the information they've sought out, and the constraints of their environment. When any of these factors change, so too does the definition of "good enough".
This concept applies to everything from firearms to unarmed skills to fitness. "Good enough" is often used as a means of evading effort, and so it tends to have a negative connotation. It's true, however, that there is a point at which some piece of equipment or skill is actually "good enough" to accomplish a given mission when all other relevant factors are considered. "Good enough" shouldn't become a hammock for the lazy, but neither should rational people be unwilling to accept "good enough" solutions. In many instances we're forced to. You probably aren't driving the best car in the world...you're driving one that's good enough. You probably don't have the fastest computer or cell phone available...just one that's good enough. It does what you need it to do...