But the essential characteristic of mediocre people is that they are the last to recognize mediocrity, either in themselves or in others.

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Semiconductor maker Micrel (nasdaq: MCRL - news - people ) had a mediocre second quarter, missing analysts' predicted earnings by a penny and reporting a 7.3% dip in sales.

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When people are bored they produce mediocre, uninspired work.

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Career civil servants who have been in position for long periods tend to be mediocre, because rewards are so poor that the competent people have left for industry.

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So we go and try whatever service we bought: more often than not, a mediocre service provided by underpaid employees who are fed up from dealing with swarming hordes of people.

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Mastering the at work state of mind promises breakthrough success for marketers, exchanging the mediocre performance of conventional methods for the high performance of programs radically reset to the way people really live, work, dream and prosper.

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"They thought that when people saw the comics, they would transfer that in their minds over to the mediocre graphics on the video games as they were, you know 30 years ago, " Thomas explains.

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