Perfection – the worst goal ever

“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” — Mark Twain

You can always count on Mark Twain for exactly the right sentiment. If he’d invented the greeting card industry instead of trying to automate the printing press, he might not have gone bankrupt.

I’ve written about perfection before—about how my favorite coach, Sam Bennett (no relation), reminds us to “Get a C.”

My favorite guru, Seth Godin, translates that as “Ship your work.” Don’t wait for it to be perfect, because such a state doesn’t exist.

My education primed me for this early on, because my school didn’t use letter grades. Teachers graded us on a scale of 1-100. And of course, no one ever expected to get 100 because we all—teachers and students—understood that perfection doesn’t exist. Until one of my friends produced a paper so exquisite in every way that the teacher had to give it 100—her husband, a New York Times columnist, argued her into it. It was the schoolyard equivalent of Nadia Comaneci’s perfect 10; the grade heard ’round the world. Or at least ’round the Upper East Side of New York.

But in real life, the folks judging you don’t usually get an assist from a New York Times columnist. In that world, perfection—if it exists—is fleeting and exceedingly rare. Better not to aim for the bull’s-eye of 100 when you can much more frequently hit the fatter target of the 90s. Even the 80s is perfectly respectable. But when you don’t ship your work, you have absolutely no chance of hitting the target at all.

That’s a form of perfection, too: a perfect failure. The worst goal ever.Austin Kleon reframes the idea of perfection

So don’t be perfect in your failure; be imperfect in your attempts to shine, to make a difference. Go read Austin Kleon’s invaluable book Show Your Work!—you can easily finish it in a weekend. And then do it: Show your work, warts and all.

Because nobody’s perfect. So stop trying.

  • mindset
  • writing