We all undertake projects and initiatives. Most of the time, we overrun the schedule. There are two primary reasons for it. The first reason is inertia. Sometimes, we feel that we have enough time on our hands and procrastinate. Other times we can't figure out where to begin. The second and the most critical reason is we can't decide where to stop. We keep adding features to our products, editing drafts of our brochures, and gathering more data. We either are a perfectionist, or we simply are scared to put it out in the real world. The latter is more often the case.
Perfection is an illusion. There is no endpoint to it. It, therefore, gives us an infinite goal to aim. It's so reassuring to justify additional resources in its pursuit. Psychologist Donald Winnicott discovered in his practice that parents were feeling sad for having failed their kids. He realized that there was nothing they were doing that was majorly wrong. These parents were aiming for perfection, and when they could not achieve it feeling dejected. He coined the term "Good Enough" to reassure the parents that what they were doing for their kids was enough. Kids do not need perfect parents. They need good enough.
The concept is not just limited to parenting. It applies to the business world. Carly Fiorina used this concept to revive HP. Her struggle to change the culture there is well documented in the book Perfect Enough. HP design teams had got too embroiled in perfecting their products, and nothing hit the market on time. The same problem was encountered by Louis Gerstner in IBM. In his book, Who says elephants can't dance, he has described his struggles there.
Metrics:
Look at the projects on your hand.
Are you stuck with a deliverable? Is that because of your quest for perfection?
Have you done a good enough job and are scared to put it on the market?
Go ahead, and take that leap of faith. If it does not work, you would know. Learn from it and iterate.
Subodh
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