You want to write the perfect application; so you don’t apply.
You want to produce the perfect article; so you don’t write.
You want to make the perfect pitch; so you don’t take up the opportunity to present.
What’s the difference between striving for perfection and striving for good quality? The former lowers your productivity and increases mental stress and strain; the latter increases the probability that things get done.
Who says it has to be perfect anyway? You do. And then who misses out? Well, you do.
For goodness sake, give yourself a fighting chance. If you want to win the lottery, you’ve got to buy a ticket.
Opting for ‘good’ over ‘perfect’ doesn’t mean you’re a loser. Let good enough be good enough; especially if the alternative is to do nothing and give up altogether.
I struggle most with this when it comes to emails. I want to write the perfect thank you, so it may not get written. I want to make the perfect introduction for someone, so it may not get made.
Will be reading this post daily.
Also loved the concept of ‘satisficing’ back in my economics days. It’s a combination of satisfy and suffice, and is generally much more productive than trying to optimise everything.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satisficing
Great article and something I can totally relate to. If I got a penny for every time I have fallen into victim to perfection I would probably be a wealthy man (if you consider 2-3 pounds a lot of money)
What I have learned, especially from writing software, is that if you try design the perfect solution you would either have no time to implement it, the scope changes or there is always something that comes up that you initially never considered.
So can the user tell between the perfect and good solution? Yes, the good solution usually is delivered on time and works.
Lovely article Bela.
None of us want our company publicity to read: “Black Arts graphic design studio – Fuck it, that’ll do” but we need to deliver too.
The trick is to exceed expectations just a little bit without building the QE2 for a customer who’s paying for a rowing boat.
Thanks Dave – your comment about the QE2 & rowing boat was very amusing!