I guess its just me and Voltaire. But I am in good company. Even when I searched for good is the enemy of great got hundreds of hits vs one or two for great is the enemy of good.

I am drop dead certain we all do it to an excess. I was going to discuss good is the enemy of great vs great is the enemy of good. But I am going to skip the good is the enemy of great side of this discussion because there are hundreds if not thousands of hits on that. You dont come here to hear the trite, trivial and common thinking.

Wow I only found one image for great is the enemy of good. Is there anyone out there that has procrastinated, citing perfection as the goal? Has anyone waited to get a few more opinions before they released an email or waited for a few more ideas and feedback before they decided on anything in their life?

Has any actors waited for one more acting class one more hair cut before they went on an audition. Has anyone waited for the perfect outfit before they went on the interview. Has anyone waited for the perfect time of the year to send an email? Has anyone ever procrastinated because they were nervous but convinced themselves that they were waiting for perfection?

I will bet my life savings that more often people are citing that they can not do something or release something because it is not yet perfect. I guess they never heard of “fail forward fast”. You only learn by doing and you learn perfection by doing imperfect.

To be clear we all strive to create perfect things, goods and services. Do we even have to state that?

So both statements are true, good is the enemy of great and great is the enemy of good. The point is to make the distinction and find the point of diminishing returns. For example if you are putting together a Black Friday sale and want to articulate it properly and talk with your team how it will affect each product or service that you offer so it can be perfect and articulated and logistically communicated perfectly thats great. But if your efforts go past Friday to Saturday I think we can agree you are now in the land of diminishing returns.

I think its that simple. Do the best that you can to deliver absolute perfect, great, outstanding products and services. Be the absolute best you can be. But be cognizant of your deadlines and or the point of diminishing returns. So maybe Black Friday is an extreme example, but how many weeks or months have passed since your last communication with your clients because you were waiting for something great to say or offer? Is that a negative or a positive for your business? Comparing costs from vendors to the penny I am sure we can agree is a waste of your time. If you have a great offer take it and move on.

I think you get it. I am by no means diminishing perfection. What I am saying is I have a strong belief that the majority of people are not doing enough in the name of perfection. Waiting for everything to be perfect. As General Patton said A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week”

I can probably give a thousand examples. If you bought your first house 10 years earlier even though you werent in the perfect financial condidtion to do so. If you had your first child even though you felt you werent ready. PS you can never be fully ready to do something you have never done before. Perhaps you didnt buy apple stock in 2000 because you needed to read one more book so you could be perfect at investing. I didnt invest the thousand dollars in bitcoin in 2010 that my 18 year old volunteer on my political campaign begged me to because I didnt perfectly understand it. It would have been worth almost three billion dollars today.

I am sure you are erring on the “safe side” waiting to get more experience before you call that client. Again not diminishing working hard and quickly to be the best you can be, but do not use the trite saying that everyone uses to rationalize inaction.