Good Enough is Good Enough – should we be following the Dutch ‘sixes culture’?

Good Enough is good enough – is being sufficient more efficient? Should we be following the Dutch ‘sixes culture’ over the pursuit of excellence?

The Dutch are happy. The Netherlands are, according to the World Happiness Report, consistently in the top 10 happiest nations in the world – currently ranking 5^th.. The possible reasons for this are manifold, but for the purposes of today I’m looking at the alleged relaxed attitude of Dutch people towards achievement, or, their apparent acceptance of mediocrity. The USA, whose people are known for believing that hard work leads to the American Dream currently ranks 24^th in the Happiness Report. The UK is at number 23, and the Germans, renowned for upholding the virtues of efficiency, rank 22^nd

Does this tell us anything? Possibly not, but I wanted to set the scene before I introduced the Dutch zesjescultuur – or ‘sixes culture’. A study suggests as many as two-thirds of Dutch students currently adopt this mindset, meaning they aim to achieve a score of 6 out of 10, which is just enough to pass and get them to the next stage of their education. Any more than that might be considered a waste of energy to only reach the same goal.

When first I read about this, intrigued, I rang my Dutch brother-in-law, who at the age of 33 has never heard of zesjescultuur, suggesting that this might not be as widespread a thing as the internet has led me to believe. Nonetheless, I pursued the train of thought that perhaps the Dutch have simply discovered that Good Enough is in fact, good enough. At Boo, we’ve been sharing this quote on social media for years, and yet I still find myself endless tweaking a piece of work – for hours beyond the stage where anyone else might notice a difference.

Becci is much better at this than I am. She will throw something out into the world that I’ve been clutching to my breast, dust her hands and say ‘right, what’s next?’ Despite this, she is still committed to an uncompromising level of excellence for our customers – often going the extra mile to make an experience special for them.

How is it possible to do both? To seemingly accept mediocrity and simultaneously be outstanding in your field?

Perfectionism

Lets rewind to the assumption that the harder we work – the more energy we expend – the greater the likelihood of success. Whilst studies have shown that high work indeed correlates with high achievement in the short term, it doesn’t guarantee success. Nor does high achievement correspond with high levels of happiness (my specialist subject). In fact, contentment levels are around the same as those whose ambitions have been more modest. Meanwhile a high drive to succeed does bring with it a greater likelihood of anxiety, depression, and burnout – all of which will eventually effect productivity.

In his TED talk on perfectionism, Thomas Curran (author of The Perfection Trap) says:

“ We hold perfectionism as insignia of worth. The emblem of the successful.”

What perfectionism actually leads to, Curran states, is ‘discontentment, dissatisfaction, and a lingering sense of never being quite enough.’

His research, studying college students from the US, UK and Canada, showed a 33% increase in levels of perfectionism from the late 1980’s to the early 2020’s, with the area rising most sharply being ‘Culturally Prescribed Perfectionism’. This trend has played out in increased pressure and negative mental health effects – particularly amongst young people, who are experiencing elevated levels of anxiety linked to their achievement goals. Perfectionism, Curran argues, is dangerous to us.

Another US study found that whilst young people are measuring academic success as a reflection of self worth, their parents are using the same metric to determine the quality of their own parenting, demonstrating a ripple effect of pressure within families. Meanwhile our friends the Dutch have apparently eschewed perfectionism to the point where high levels of competitiveness are almost frowned upon.

Advocates of the sixes culture claim the following benefits:

Where one is impacting the other, wellbeing is prioritised over achievement
‘Being sufficient is more efficient’ as it conserves energy for other task
There is a greater likelihood of a satisfactory work-life balance
Modest aims are more realistic, and always preferrable to a ‘world class’ plan that never materialises

Critics have argued that people who follow the sixes culture are unlikely to achieve their full potential, either as individuals or as a society. Accusations of complacency – even laziness – abound where ambition is lacking. Do we want our healthcare professionals to be following a ‘just good enough’ approach? Well, a 2021 Healthcare report by the Commonwealth Fund ranked Dutch healthcare as second amongst the high-income countries of the world, so this doesn’t seem to be an issue for the Netherlands.

Hustle Culture

Perhaps thanks to social media and the endless opportunities for comparison it offers, many of us are influenced by ‘hustle culture’ in our working lives. Hustle culture teaches us that the worthiest humans constantly strive for success- glamourising hard work and sacrifices whilst promising your dreams fulfilled in return.

We seem to be figuring out that this way of life can do more harm than good. In Losing my Ambition, ‘reformed workaholic’ Amil Niazi identifies a post-pandemic trend away from the rise-and-grind.

“Many of us are no longer willing to trade our well-being for a chance to claw at the decaying American Dream. There’s a renewed focus on relationships, community, and the slow beat of life outside the gaslight-gatekeep-girlboss ethos.” – Amil Niazi

She says her aims are now to be just comfortable enough financially, whilst focusing on contentment and balance and the quality of her relationships

Aiming for Average?

The problem with trying to apply the sixes culture to your performance in your circumstances in your country, is that in our mind the middling number 6 translates to ‘just above average’ and the premise of ‘doing the minimum required’, presented this way, is just not very inspiring.

I want to introduce an analogy from Happiness Expert, Mo Gawdat. He, too, uses numbers to illustrate controlling the parameters of what you choose to worry about.

Mo’s mathematical example:

(which, let me tell you, I didn’t even attempt to solve)

What is the value of A? A = 2B+C-D+E*F+G+H-1+J

The answer (apparently) is A equals 4.200205.

Mo wants us to consider which of the above calculations really mattered, in the scheme of things. If you focused on just B being equal to 2.1, the whole terrifying equation becomes simpler: A equals two times B. This gives you an answer of 4.2 – pretty close.

“In fact, if you’d have just said that A is equal to four within a second and ignored all the other parameters as they’re almost irrelevant, you’d have saved time, effort, and still be quite close to correct, with the added bonus of learning to live with imperfection” – Mo Gawdat

Mo’s approach equates to being about 90% accurate, so, closer to a rule of nines than a rule of sixes. In this example, the mental effort of getting from 4.2 to 4.200205 yielded an almost meaningless difference.

“ Instead of obsessing about precise outcomes, focus on adopting the best possible attitude and taking the most suitable actions to get as close as possible to your point of control” – Mo Gawdat

I think this helps to discern the difference between average and good enough. How do we recognise when good enough is good enough? It’s about triaging where best to focus your energies and letting go of the drive to be perfect at all things. This way you can grow and develop your potential and also achieve a balance between motivation and pressure.

How do you choose when to use a sixes mentality and when to strive for excellence? It all comes down to what actually matters most, and that is up to you.

Good Enough is Good Enough – should we be following the Dutch ‘sixes culture’?