Why perfection is a silent killer of business
I am a pedant by nature and hate it when emails or documents are not formatted correctly. It used to drive me to insanity ensuring that all fonts and sizes were correct, bullets aligned and punctuation was correct. Don’t even get me started on the layout of my wardrobe, the knives and forks in the kitchen drawer or the positioning of the glassware in the cupboards.
It used to cause me problems in the early days of running my business as I’d spend a disproportionate amount of time on formatting vs just getting the job done. It was the same with posting content on social media and sending email campaigns – spending hours tweaking, rewording and overthinking to the point where often, nothing was sent!!
I know brand image is important, but so is showing that I’m not super human and without the odd typo or two.
In business, perfection can disguise itself as ambition. We tell ourselves we’re “just making it better,” when in reality, we’re polishing apples that are already shiny enough. Every extra content tweak, every delayed launch, every unnecessary meeting to debate a detail no customer will ever notice, these are the moments where momentum dies.
How often have you or your team not posted on socials or not sent a DM or email to a prospect because it wasn’t perfection personified. Yep – that!
Perfection is seductive because it feels safe. This is especially true in some sectors like legal and accounting as “we don’t want to get it wrong” but in reality, passing a well thought, considered opinion, won’t hurt.
If you just wait until everything is flawless, you can avoid criticism, avoid failure, and avoid the discomfort of the unknown right? But, the world moves fast, your competitors don’t wait, and customers rarely reward you for holding back. More often than not, “good enough” is exactly what you need to get moving.
You have competition, less talented, less qualified and less experienced than you and your team, that are winning because they are just getting stuff out there!
Momentum over procrastination every time. Execution is the key to results.
I started to adopt the concept of the minimum viable product/ proposition (MVP) and it saved the day. An MVP isn’t about cutting corners; it’s about delivering the essential value quickly, testing it in the real world, and learning from actual users rather than having endless internal debates. The feedback you get from a live product, a live email campaign, a live social post will always be more valuable than theoretical perfection crafted in your boardroom or office.
As a business leader, your job is to create progress and momentum, not perfection for you and your team. Teams thrive when they see tangible outcomes, not endless iterations. Every day spent chasing “perfect” instead of “done” drains your energy, delays your revenue, and erodes confidence.
The reality is, you and your team can polish forever and still miss the mark. Or you can put something out there, test it, adapt, and benefit. Trust me, your prospects and customers won’t even notice.
It is better to post something that is only 98% than not post something that is 100%!
The best leaders know when to stop polishing proverbial apples and JFDI (Google this if you need to). So, next time you feel the urge to tweak just one more thing, to overthink the message, to doubt your intentions, remember: perfection is the enemy of progress. Stop polishing, start doing.
Now, back to me making sure all my shirts are buttoned the same way and all on yellow hangers and the wine glasses are all the right way round!
Have you and your team let perfection get in the way of momentum and if so, what did you do to overcome it?
