Perfection is the Enemy

There have been many times in my life where I would not move forward with a project if I did not think it was perfect. I used to have a bad habit of getting in my own way, creating objections that did not even exist. In marketing, this can really be detrimental to growing your company and testing new strategies and tactics. I know it held me back for many years.

It was so bad that, at times, new marketing ideas and services did not get launched because I was stuck in “analysis paralysis” mode. I was looking at everything that could go wrong instead of looking at all that could go right. I have since learned that the universe rewards action. And if you can’t innovate, getting new ideas, services, and products out to your market, then you will not grow. 

The opposite to analysis paralysis is to FAIL FAST. For me, that means to come up with the idea that is congruent with what my market wants, get it past the proof of concept stage (maybe 30% complete), and then hand it off to someone else to implement it. That person becomes responsible for taking it up to 70% completion. The whole goal is to get it out there and do it quickly. That way, if the market is not receptive to the new idea, you will learn that sooner rather than later, and FAIL FAST. That allows you to ditch the idea and try something else. And if it is a winner, you have more time with it in front of your clients.

Now, that still leaves 30% to get it up to full completion of 100%. And the reason I don’t put that extra pressure on myself or my team because the last 30% of any project always changes anyhow. We choose to listen to our clients, accept their response to the new idea, and adjust accordingly. So the final 30% of any project is actually dependent on the feedback loop from our clients.

The best part? The pressure that is relieved to be perfect. Trying to be perfect is no fun. It creates stress and unnecessary pressure. And it’s basically impossible to achieve. Marketing is all about testing new ideas small. If they are a winner, pour gas on the fire and take it to a larger audience. And if it is a dud, then you can revamp it or ditch it. As business owners, we have the luxury of being able to measure our success by our results…. Not by the time and effort required. Be results-focused and fail fast!