Avoid perfection

According to Don Moyer, aiming at perfection in just about every project might mean not achieving much in life. While trying to make the best of a project, it might just be wise to aim at getting quality result rather than a daunting insistence on perfection.

In his article on 'Avoiding Perfection he shared some observations derived from his drawings that could be adapted to project execution.

1. Effort - achieving greater quality usually requires greater effort

2. Diminishing Returns – sometimes increasing effort no longer increases quality.

3. Take a break – productivity can improve after a break. You might just need to step away from the project for a bit and come back fresher and rearing to go.

4. Chasing the horizon – Sometimes returns does not diminish and more effort continues to produce better quality. But the question is 'Can you really afford to pursue perfection forever?'

5. Lost opportunity cost - Continually working on one project can gulp up all the time required to develop other projects.

6. Stopping Perfection – The best way to limit effort put in a project and control the need for perfection is to have a deadline. With a deadline you allow yourself to work as hard as you can within the time limit.

7. Adequate – From the get go, it will be wise to define what is the acceptable level of quality and once you reach that; stop. Defining quality is a way to make sure you don't chase perfection forever.

8. Limits – You can decide to use both the time and quality limit to control your desire for perfection.

9. Serendipity – While working on a project you could make a mistake, mistakenly stumble on something new that could divert your attention; don’t be scared to explore this new path even if you've invested so much time in the project. Some accidents are helpful to the course and bring to light new horizons.