By Bob Scribner
Many of us grew up with that old commercial, the one that always ended the same way: a guy smacks his forehead and groans, “Wow, I could’ve had a V8!”
I heard it again the other day for the first time in years, and thought, yeah, I remember that.
Here’s the thing, though — V8 was never really my favorite… But my parents loved it! They’d order it at breakfast, make a point of having a glass at home. To them, it was the obvious right choice.
It’s still not my favorite for drinking (although it makes great soups!) But I understand the moment completely — that instance when you realize the better choice was sitting right in front of you the whole time, and you just weren’t reaching for it.
That’s what I want to talk about. Not the juice. The moment.
The Comfortable Trap
Most employees, I believe, are predisposed to succeed. The real question is how they define success — and that definition is where a lot of organizations get stuck.
The biggest hurdle isn’t a lack of completed projects. Plenty get finished. Initiatives get launched, checked off, filed away. The hurdle is something quieter: the temptation to stop once things are good enough.
It’s a pattern that shows up again and again — people and organizations settling into satisfactory results and taking pride in them, rather than treating “satisfactory” as a waypoint instead of a destination. It’s comfortable. It feels like arrival. But comfort is exactly what keeps a lot of teams from ever having their own V8 moment — the one where someone looks around and says, “Wait, we could be doing so much better than this!”
Why Generations See It Differently
Part of what makes this hard is that different generations define “good enough” — and “better” — in very different terms.
–Gen Z tends to want more than completion. They want to lead something that feels new, that creates real innovation and opportunity. Finishing a project isn’t the finish line for them — it’s a step toward whatever’s next.
–Millennials are often more comfortable with steady contribution. Their attitude can be closer to: I’ll do the work, support the policies, help the customers and the team — I don’t need it to be spectacular.
–Baby Boomers came up in a different world entirely — shaped by the ambitions of a generation that had fought for and built things from nothing. They wanted the house, the car, the golf course, the flight from New York to LA. Success had visible, tangible markers, and they were willing to put in the work to earn them.
None of these views are wrong. But when you put all three in the same room, on the same team, working toward the same goals, you get friction — not because anyone’s lazy or entitled, but because “success” doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone at the table.
What This Means for Managers
That friction lands squarely on managers and supervisors, whose job — at its foundation — is the well-being of their people. That means more than hitting targets. It means:
- Financial stability
- Health and welfare
- Support for families
- Quality products and quality service
Good organizations hold onto these principles even when they’re inconvenient. But holding onto them isn’t enough if the organization — and its people — quietly settle for “satisfactory” along the way.
The Real Question
I’m not raising this issue because I think there’s a crisis. I’m raising it because I’m curious where you land.
Given the different generations, different expectations, and different motivations sitting inside our organizations right now — how do we define success? And once we reach it, do we sit down and enjoy it, or do we look around for the next “V8 moment” — the better choice we haven’t reached for yet?
Danger isn’t failure, it’s settling for good enough when something better was within reach.
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