Going the Extra Mile

The idea of going the extra mile is entrenched within our culture, the actual reference being from an exhortation by Jesus related in the New Testament. Some dismiss the wisdom of doing more than asked by another in authority. The reasoning is two-fold: one, it would only legitimize the hierarchy of authority that imposed open the “doer” in the first place. Two, if the authority making the demand (or “request”) is treated with a better-than-asked-for result, that may just become the new minimum standard when a new demand is levied. And this could be imposed on everyone, bringing up peer resentment against the overachiever. It would seem to be a wiser option, in the minds of these people, to do a mediocre job of technically fulfilling the chore so that the “boss” figure will have second thoughts about asking again. And to be perfectly honest, I see some truth in this argument! I think that some people will deliberately go “above and beyond” on assigned tasks in order to: one, give themselves a sense of freedom or self-determination and, two, encourage the authority figure to let them work more independently. To me, the first reason rings true, but anyone who thinks that someone who has scraped and clawed their way to a position of authority is going to simply turn a blind eye to a subordinate because they overachieve is a bit deluded. If anything, this would in reality send out an alarm that the hard-working subordinate is an ambitious person who at some future time may challenge or even replace the person in charge. So, at least how I see it, the best thing to do would be to honorably fulfill the assigned job, but to be careful not to overstep oneself in such a way as to ostentatiously attract the authority's attention. But I think it also is important that in fulfilling assignments, one does them with an attitude of respect and cooperation toward those in charge.

The idea of going the extra mile has a broader application than this, though. In school, for example, it behooves a student to consciously exceed the homework assigned, at least marginally, by answering a few more questions and reading a little more material. Putting a foot ahead into the not-yet-assigned material that is to be covered in the immediate future is another way of marginally exceeding expectations. As a principle of habit, it’s a good idea to overshoot (a little) whatever is on our plates at the time. This gives us the healthy perspective that we are a more active force in our own lives and less prone to seeing ourselves as passive, helpless victims of our circumstances, something that helps no one.