"Good Enough" is the Enemy: Why Excellence Still Matters in an AI World

There is a new color palette dominating the corporate world in 2026. We call it "AI Beige."

You see it in the perfectly grammatically correct but soulless marketing copy. You see it in the strategic memos that summarize the problem beautifully but offer no novel solution. You see it in the code that runs without errors but isn't optimized for scale.

Generative AI has solved the "Blank Page" problem. But it has introduced a far more dangerous problem: The "Good Enough" Problem.

Because AI models are trained on the statistical average of human knowledge, they are incredible at producing average work. They can get you to the 80th percentile of quality in seconds, for free.

For exhausted teams, that 80% feels like a miracle. They look at the AI output, say "Good enough," and ship it.

But here is the trap: If you and your competitors are using the same models, and you both settle for the model's default output, you have just commoditized yourself. You are racing to the middle.

In 2026, "Good Enough" isn't just the enemy of Great. It is the enemy of Survival.

The Regression to the Mean

We are witnessing a massive "Regression to the Mean" in corporate performance.

• The Bottom Raised: Incompetence is disappearing. Even a junior employee can now produce a competent report using AI.
• The Top Lowered: Brilliance is becoming rarer. Because it is so easy to accept the AI’s "B+" work, fewer people are putting in the agonizing effort required to do "A+" work.

This is where the danger lies.

Value is not created at the average. Profit margins do not exist at the average. Brands are not built at the average.

Value lives at the edges. It lives in the outlier ideas, the counter-intuitive strategies, and the distinct voice that an algorithm—by definition—cannot predict.

The New Definition of Quality

Leaders need to reset the standard. We need to be clear that AI is the Floor, not the Ceiling.

If an employee turns in work that looks like it came straight out of ChatGPT, they haven't done their job. They have simply operated the tool. That is the baseline expectation, not a performance achievement.

Human Excellence is now defined as the "Delta"—the difference between what the machine produced and what the final product became.

3 Ways to Fight the "Beige"

How do you enforce excellence when "average" is so cheap and fast? You have to operationalize "Taste."

1. The "Human Layer" Test

Institute a new quality control standard. Every piece of work — code, content, or strategy — must pass the Human Layer Test.

• The Question: "Point to the specific insight, risk assessment, or creative leap in this document that an AI could not have generated."
• The Rule: If you can't point to it, send it back. It’s not finished.

2. Reward "Craft," Not Just Speed

For the last 12 months, we have obsessed over speed. "Look how fast we launched!"

It is time to swing the pendulum back.

• The Flip: Publicly celebrate the employee who slowed down to fix a user experience detail. Celebration signals value. If you only celebrate velocity, you will get fast garbage. If you celebrate craft, you will get excellence.

3. Hire for "Taste"

Sam Altman predicted this years ago: "Taste is the new skill."

In a world where generation is free, Selection is expensive.

• The Shift: When hiring leaders, don't just test their ability to create. Test their ability to discern. Show them two strategic options—one generated by AI, one refined by a human expert. Ask them to identify the better one and explain why. If they can't feel the difference, they can't lead in this era.

The Premium of "Great"

There is a massive economic opportunity here.

As the world floods with "AI Beige," the market is starving for "Human Technicolor."

Clients, customers, and partners are becoming experts at sniffing out synthetic mediocrity. When they encounter something that feels truly thoughtful, truly original, and truly crafted, they will pay a premium for it.

AI makes "Average" a commodity.

That means "Great" just became the most scarce and valuable resource on the planet.

Don't settle for the output. Push for the outcome.