There is a story, maybe apocryphal, of Steven Speilberg sitting on his yacht, somewhere in the middle of the Meditarrian, doing a review of CGI shots for his latest movie with people on the other side of the world. Firstly, it must be nice. But secondly what he said was more profound.
He said – “no one will notice”.
He was having a discussion with the head of digital effects company who was suggesting to change some tiny small detail that wasn’t perfect. Speilberg said no one will notice when it is in motion. His point was that to make it perfect would take energy and resources away from making another shot better.
We are all wrapped up with what we know. Our worldview is very strong and important to us but it is not the worldview of anyone else. You might see the mistake, but maybe no one else will. They don’t even know it is a mistake, they just see it as a choice.
If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.
Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedI
The desire to be perfect slows us and down and limits what we can try, and therefore, learn. Liberate yourself from the shackles of thinking that it has to be perfect to be effective. The question then is, what is perfect, and perfect to whom?
Maybe your idea, product, thought, output is perfect for your market but not perfect to you, and so you miss out on delivering value to your market You are so worried about the tiny bits that you perceive to be wrong that you don’t support the people you are trying to help and miss out on all that is right with it.
If one of the worlds best directors can see the value in ignoring a slight imperfection in the pursuit of finishing the whole film then you can attempt to put aside your fear and let yourself loose on the world.
You might like what you find out.
Luke McMeeken-Ruscoe 