12/15/2021

Three Reasons Why Perfection is Often Unnecessary

Perfection isn't always the goal when 'good enough' will suffice

This isn’t the first time I’ve written about when things have to be perfect and when “good enough” is good enough. It probably won’t be the last.

As happened a couple of weeks ago, just about every time I work with a new cohort of leaders in our Next Level Leadership® group coaching program, someone ends up choosing the 360-degree feedback behavior, “Effectively differentiates between efforts that require perfection and those for which “good enough” is sufficient,” as a focal point for their personal development plan. And every time someone chooses it, I learn more about how leaders can make smart choices around what needs to be perfect and what can be good enough.

Because here’s the thing; there’s just not enough bandwidth or capacity for everything to be perfect. It was true before the way we all work was turned upside down; it’s even more true now. The competing commitments on our time and attention make it impossible to optimize every decision or project to a perfect level. Instead, we need to do what economists call “satisficing.” When you satisfice, you accept an available option as “good enough.”

Please select this link to read the complete blog post from the Eblin Group.