The secret of Big Macs is that they're not very good, but every one is not very good in exactly the same way.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Consistency in mediocrity can be a business model; the secret is uniform execution even when quality is low.
- In plain terms
- Doing something badly the same way every time can work.
- What can you take from it?
- Consistency can be a differentiator even at low quality.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is consistency better than sporadic excellence?
- When does reliability win?
Another view
Long-term success usually requires quality improvement.
More from Joel Spolsky
Remember, just because Microsoft can do something, doesn't mean you can. Microsoft makes their own gravity. Normal rules don't apply to them.
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