I was raised to be a perfectionist.
I was taught that I was wasting time, resources and the gifts God had given me if I wasn’t performing at 100% (or better). That perfectionism carried over into my adult life – and darned near drove me crazy.
In my personal life – you could walk into my home at any point in time and take a picture for Architectural Digest or Home and Gardens – it was perfect, always. No one lived in my home – or at least you couldn’t tell they did.
In my professional life, I pushed and pushed to make every project perfect. Whatever it took – 100 hours a week, all nighters before a launch, incessant attention to details that made teams shake their heads and wonder what drove me – I was all about perfect.
Then I realized that no one knew it was perfect – except me.
That’s the day my life got much easier – as did the lives of those around me. All that extra pushing and craziness to reach perfection didn’t really matter. Not to the rest of the world. No one noticed that last 20% of the work that drove me, and those around me by default – NUTS!
I’m not saying that I learned to be sloppy and not care about the details. I still worry over those little things – only now it’s about the really important little things.
I learned that the old 80/20 rule is a friend for us all.
Maybe it’s the 90/10 rule – depending on the situation. Whatever the percentage – my point is that there is a time when enough is enough and it’s time to let go – versus spending precious energy and resources on chasing that last minute detail to reach perfection.
That last 10 – 20% can actually be more destructive than it is positive. Perfection takes too much time and effort – not to mention the drain it places on everyone involved, as everyone begins to wonder why their best isn’t yet good enough.
Want a great example of the 80/20 rule in action? Look at the iPad. It’s not perfect – the market has gone out of its way to point out that 20% that isn’t there yet. Has that slowed iPad sales? Has it given Apple a black eye? Has it in anyway impacted the future of the iPad? Not really. In fact – it created a lot of chatter about the iPad -chatter and debate – the best marketing (free marketing I might add) that you can ask for.
Yes, it has given a lot of people a reason to stab at the iPad – but they would’ve done that even with the extra 20% in the product. That’s just what they want to do -throw stones. In reality, the 20% hasn’t impacted the iPad’s popularity. By letting that 20% ride – Apple has room for product enhancements, they’ve powered into the market sooner than had they waited to ‘finish’ the product – and they’ve focused on the 80% of functionality that mattered.
The Bottom Line: The next time you catch yourself reaching for perfection – think about what that perfection is costing you – in resource, time, effort and market leadership. Then think about how you can leverage the 80/20 rule to better create success for your efforts.
5 Comments
Cheri Gaudet
April 20, 2010 - 6:15 pmThanks for this different perspective on the 80/20 rule. I learned this version: "80% of results come from 20% of the effort." For we perfectionists who can easily become overwhelmed by our own unrealistic expectations, that means the most critical step in any project is to get started! It’s freeing to know that (or at least wonder if) 80% of the work we do produces only minimal improvements in the final outcome of a given project. I’ve found this to be true in my life. How about you?
Sally G.
April 21, 2010 - 12:39 pmGreat post Ms. Rebel! I found The 80/20 Prinicple really enlightening. One of my favourite quotes from it is: 80/20 thinking requires, and with practice enables, us to spot the few really important things that are happening and ignore the mass of unimportant things. It teaches us to see the woods for the trees.
Perfection is an elusive state ~ our sense of accomplishment gets locked into the subjective definition of that term, sometimes putting the end-goal at risk. Investing time effectively and efficiently with a big picture end-result that brings more of a life balance into play is certainly an enlightened way to go. Thank you for charging my day w/ possibility!
Kelly Ketelboeter
April 21, 2010 - 2:44 pmHi Rebel,
Thanks for a great post. As a recovering perfectionist I love the 80/20 rule you suggested. I grew up hearing that practice and focus makes perfect. As an adult I learned to let that thought process go. Instead I focus on my progress. What progress am I making towards my goals, vision, dreams and in all aspects of life? Things will never be perfect and as you mentioned no one knows what perfect is but you. But people can recognize your progress.
I always encourage the managers I work with to focus on an employees progress versus waiting for perfection. When you take the time to focus on the progress employees will be motivated to continue putting forth the effort and energy required. If managers wait for the employee to achieve perfection, they will be waiting a long time!
Cheers!
Kelly
Brandon Croke
April 21, 2010 - 4:08 pmI love the 20% analogy for the I-pad. I think you are right on and even though I’m not sure if it technically counts as the 80/20 🙂
Either way, great stuff and food for thought. I am not a perfectionist by nature. I am more of (myers briggs terminology) perceiver, where I get bored in wrapping up ends and considering details.
Any idea how the 80/20 rule would affect me? I think I get 80 percent of my energy from the first 20% of a project? Haha, sounds about right. Here is my take on the "I-Pad float".
bcroke.wordpress.com/2010/04/10/onthei-pad
Make it a great day,
@bcroke
Wendy Naarup
April 27, 2010 - 2:07 pmRebel…so true and maybe even more important internally…sometimes it’s easier to let go of that perfectionism trait when it comes to your environment but we still hold on to it when we think about "who we are". I should lose 5 lbs. My teeth aren’t white enough. My butt is sagging. We might look fabulous to the world but secretly hold ourselves to that impossible "perfectionist" standard when it comes to "self." From now on, I’m going to lighten up a little…80/20. Thanks 🙂