When is enough, enough?

Wall Street missed its projection on Facebook this quarter. Instead of $13.4 billion in revenue, it grew $13.2. And instead of a 13% increase in user growth, Facebook came short at 11%.

As a result, Facebook shares dropped 25% in one day. But as Bob Lefsetz points out, Facebook will bounce back.

The problem wasn’t growth, clearly there was plenty of that. The problem wasn’t enough growth.

So, the question becomes When is enough, enough?

And I think part of the crux of all of this is when we can’t be satisfied with a number, the default answer is always more.

But is more money really the answer to our problems?

Is the fact you’re unhappy with the work you do, the projects you ship, going to be fixed with a larger bank account?

Does money fix your boss’s attitude? Will it fix yours?

Probably not. And neither will continuous growth. It’s easy to forget that temporary setbacks are just that—temporary.

Numbers are a lousy way to predict the uncertain future, quit putting so much confidence in them.