[trjordan]

I mostly agree with this, but don't discount the idea of only improving by a couple percent. Most things (like grants) are stack ranked, and if everybody has between an 85% and 95%, a 10% improvement could put you at the top of the list.

There's a similar argument about athletics. Sure, the people who win gold medals and get MVP at the Super Bowl have amazing genetics, but they also worked crazy hard to get there. Your hard work isn't going to get you a gold medal, but if they didn't work for it, they wouldn't get it either.

The core message is good, though: if you don't have whole package, don't apply the polish. But if you think you have a shot, don't think you can skate by on what you already have.