Wow. I don't even know what to say. This brings together a lot of things I've been mulling over for a while. In particular, it gives a name to something I've been fearing and trying to avoid for the last 17 years--"productive mediocrity":
http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?id=zs61txc4kwr4kd1q1rjbfxt41952gdmf