Excellence doesn’t need to be perfect

It’s been said that “perfection is the enemy of done”, in that people will work so hard to make a product or idea absolutely perfect that it never gets finished. However, something doesn’t need to be perfect for it to still be excellent.

In his book “ Unreasonable Hospitality “, author Will Guidara puts it like this:

“It may not be possible to do everything perfectly, but it is possible to do many things perfectly. That’s the very definition of excellence: getting as many details right as you can.”

Of course, the opposite can happen where using “perfection is the enemy of done” can be taken too far, where you don’t worry about quality in order to push out the new product, and that’s not the point either. It’s a fine line between making something excellent and pushing too hard for perfection, but I think Guidara’s quote helps to firm up that line — get as many details right as you can, and then get it out there.

Originally published at https://www.mickmel.com on January 21, 2023.