This one is for all the perfectionists out there.

It’s easy to try and fight for that last 5% to make something “perfect.” but the benefit of this last 5% often is outweighed by the cost of it.

Internalizing this can be difficult for a few reasons. 

As the world is increasingly globalized, we’re exposed to higher and higher standards. This is good, but it also drives the idea of perfection higher and higher.

Additionally, as subject matter experts, your discerning eye, palate, worldview, etc., allows you to see the micro imperfections that mar the work, and especially with more experience our taste becomes more refined.

However, unless you’re serving the highest echelon, most people neither expect, can afford, or can understand what “perfect” might be in your mind. 

And regardless of who you’re serving, what’s perfect to you might be slightly off to me, and what’s perfect to me might be poorly executed to you. Perfection, like all measures of value, are highly subjective.

So while perfection might be something you want to chase, perhaps consider rethinking it from “perfection” to “excellence.” After all, embracing “good enough” is not settling for loose standards when it’s “good enough to impress those I seek to serve.”