Don’t Let Perfect Stand In The Way of Good

This past weekend was a learning one for me and while it was an informative marketing seminar, it put me back about three days.

Since I use weekends to work on projects, emails, follow ups and other assorted items, my happy routine became less happy

I usually accomplish allot on Saturdays and Sundays, between 6am and noon including doing my exercise, meditating, thinking and staring and, of course the hard stuff like analyzing facts, reviewing data, problem solving, selecting a creative alternative (or two) and writing it ALL down.

To offset the three days of the seminar, I turned Monday and Tuesday into a Saturday and Sunday and, today, Wednesday, into my Monday routine.

Do you have a daily routine? Do you have a way to get things done?

Or do you get stuck, like I used to, in making sure that our routines, projects or even finished products must be 100% perfect before we “ship” it out the door?

I thought about this during today’s Wednesday morning routine as I contemplated attending a fraternity reunion, in early May, in Brooklyn, NY.

There must be at least 7 ways for me to get there: From train to plane to bus to driving Saab#1, to driving Saab#2 to driving Saab#3 to motorcycle to hitching a ride with another fraternity brother who lives near me and have him drive.

Of these modes of transportation, some are better than others, but none are perfect.

As I came to a decision on how to get to the reunion, I thought of the advantages and disadvantages of each, what the tradeoffs and costs/benefit analysis are of each and realized that none were PERFECT and I would have to choose, what I believe to be, the one that was just GOOD.

And while I have, for the most part, kicked this habit of getting hung up on Perfect vs Good, I see some of my clients continue to do this; see how it frustrates their staff; stops momentum and then watch as the staff gets blamed for missing deadlines. For the proprietor and the center and the project at hand it’s a no win situation.

In seeking PERFECT, the PERFECT PROPRIETOR pushes their staff to do things over and over again, dealing with (I.e.) the minutiae of a flyers, typeface or color or where a logo is placed. 

Y
es, I know the devil is in the details, but if you’re letting PERFECT stand in the way of GOOD before getting your product launched, you’re probably missing deadlines, and thus, consistently, missing timely revenue opportunities.  AT best, it’s a mad scramble to get every project out the door at the last minute…and no doubt it will be far from perfect; the exact opposite of what the proprietor wanted in the beginning.

Waiting for perfect is a game that never ends.  

Looking for a 100% PERFECT BEFORE YOU LAUNCH A NEW PRODUCT will make you, and your business “stuck.”  And stuck is just not a good place for any of us.

The morale of the story is: “Don’t let perfect stand in the way of good.” 

About Fred Kaplowitz
Marketing is in my DNA. I love to solve problems and meet challenges head on and I have successfully produced results for hundreds of clients. I love what I do and love helping to make my clients more successful and happier. I am a husband and father, consultant, a coach, a teacher, a motivator, a copy- writer, and a speaker. I look forward to working with anyone searching for a proven methodology out of mediocrity. May I assist you in taking your business to the next level. Please call me now @ 516 359 4874 to review your business goals and strategies.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*