Good Enough

I first heard this term about two years ago, when I called my brother-in-law, a partner in a respected law firm.  I was asking for legal advice about a fairly common situation.  After listening to my explanation, he said, "What you need is a just good-enough lawyer."

Confused, I asked him to explain.  Basically, he said exactly what Robert Capps said:  I didn't need a hugely expensive, high-powered attorney who would charge me bazillions of dollars to do intensive research and dig up obscure court rulings; the case was clear-cut enough that I just needed someone who could stand up in court and explain it to the judge.  "In fact," he said, "if you could get one of those pro-bono victim's advocacy agencies, they might even have someone on staff who could do it."

I followed his advice and won the case.  A year or so later, I needed an attorney again - but this time, the matter was not routine; it was a very difficult and complex issue that was not going to be solved easily.  I knew I needed an expert, and indeed, my brother-in-law agreed with me.  Thankfully, I found that expert - a woman who did go digging into obscure court rulings to find the solution - and because of her time and expertise (which we did pay a fortune for), my life was changed for the better.

I don't think that the "good-enough" idea is a new idea; I think it is a matter of common sense.  Sometimes, the doc-in-the-box is good enough, because you've experienced strep throat before, and since you know you were exposed, it's a no-brainer.  Sometimes, you want an expert, like when you have a rare genetic condition that needs cutting-edge treatment.

Perhaps in the technological world, this is a bit hard to swallow, because technology thrives on the newest, the latest, the greatest developments.  Phones that talk to you, cars that sense when you're too close to the garage door, speakers so good that they make the dog howl.  But to me, it's about finding out what the consumer wants, and apparently, not all consumers want to read a 45-page instruction manual to record their baby's first steps.  They just want to record their baby's first steps.  So, I think just "good enough" makes a lot of sense.