This archive report was first published on 6 October 2019.
The Culture of Mediocrity in Kenya ¶
Published on October 6, 2019
Two incidents of death have left the nation grieving – one of a collapsed school building in Nairobi and the other of a vehicle that rolled off a ferry in Mombasa. These incidents are a stark reminder of the culture of mediocrity that pervades our society.
Businessmen cut every corner to maximise profits, while professionals take off with handsome fees for offering substandard services. Manufacturers peddle low-quality products at the price of superior ones, and proprietors of schools invest the least they can in infrastructure, yet collect a pretty sum from desperate parents.
Even in the church, Pastors plagiarise sermons and fake out miracles, in exchange for hefty offerings from gullible crowds. This list runs from here to the ocean, where operators of a ferry sacrificed the precious lives of a mother and child, in what appears to have been a vessel either in disrepair or mismanaged.
What we do not seem to have grasped as a society is that, in a race between mediocrity and excellence, there is no competition – excellence will easily outpace the rest. Excellence is the quality of surpassing the good and the acceptable. It produces the unusual, the extraordinary, and the absolutely superior.
Individuals, corporates, institutions, nations, and yes, even churches, that commit to excellence readily stand out from the crowd. As the presiding bishop of Christ is the Answer Ministries notes, excellence is an expression of God's image in us. We have an inherent nature of excellence within us.
Excellence also speaks of who we are. Behind every quality work is a man or woman proud of him or herself. King Solomon put it well: 'A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.'
Excellence is a sign of respect for others – the value you attach to those you serve. It is a mark of integrity – giving people value for their money. It is simple: shoddy work often has to be repeated, shoddy goods do not last, and sloppy service does not satisfy.
And as we have seen, mediocrity can kill. A poorly done road, a shoddily constructed building, or a defective machine, all can kill. The only way out for us as a people is to cultivate a spirit of excellence in all that we do.
