So what’s wrong with 101%? My irritation in this matter is not with the number but the people who trot out this ridiculous figure. I’m not saying that 101% doesn’t exist, because clearly it does… but not in the manner often used. Allow me to elaborate. A box of Jaffa Cakes (yes please, if you’re offering) with 140% written on the side is fine. What you’re getting, effectively, is 40% more than standard (which would have been 100%). That’s all well and good because, to all intents and purposes (in this example at least), there is an infinite potential for Jaffa Cake supply.
Agreed? Okay, now take a finite supply of something and promise more than is available. I’d like someone to explain how I could change the tyres on 120% of my car’s wheels. What does that mean? Changing the spare tyre twice? It’s stupid. How about 150% of the UK’s population turning up to vote at the next election? Doesn’t work does it?
Can one of the sportsmen or politicians (or whoever) please tell me how they’re going to “give 101% effort” please? How? 100% is all your effort. All of it. So where’s the extra 1% coming from? If you found some more effort then you clearly weren’t giving 100% to begin with. It’s not rocket science.
Some people disagree. I had someone tell me that it meant “he was going to do better”. Really? Well that’s about performance or results, but not effort. Sure, performance is a sliding scale but effort isn’t. You simply cannot give more effort than 100%. It’s a mathematical impossibility.
It gets worse though. You see, it started with people saying they’d give 100% but then the next person wanted to sound more dedicated, more determined, so he’d offer 101% effort. That became the new 100%. But then things changed and 110% became the new 100%. If you weren’t giving at least 110% you weren’t trying.
I’d love to interview the next footballer who says “we’ll be giving 110% in the big game”. My retort would be simple. “Really”, I’d start. “110%? Well if you’re going to throw rules out of the window why are you offering only 110%? Why not 200%? Hell, if you were really dedicated you’d make it into four figures easily – a good 1000%. In fact, if you’re going to completely ignore the fact that there’s a mathematical ceiling – set at 100% - then why on earth are you not offering a trillion percent effort? Are you lazy?”
I doubt I’d last very long in that journalist role but I would have got my point across (really? Who am I kidding?). In a world where ‘txt spk’ is taking over there is no adherence to rules or logic. The player in question would shoot me a quizzical look before telling the next interviewer his team will play the next game with 117.3% effort. It’s a fact. Of that, you can be a billion percent sure.
