yet we often work to the point of
exhaustion depleting ourselves resources
taking up time that people don't have in
the quest for this elusive perfect the
reality is that in most instances good
enough is good enough research shows us
that people who are satisfiers tend to
be happier and just as effective as
people who are maximizers maximizers are
the people who are always looking be the
absolute ultimate perfect solution but
it's not necessarily the best for the
individuals or for the organization I've
also seen that groups will continue to
work on something long beyond the point
in which they're completed sometimes
because they want it to be perfect
other times they're just enjoying one
another's company we fall into a certain
rhythm working on what we know is often
easier than working on what we don't
know it takes courage to say complete it
so I coach people to have the courage to
say we're done you can always recon
tracked about the next set of goals but
scope creep is really debilitating for
the individual who's delivering the work
and sometimes the person who's receiving
it because they're waiting and you're
taking longer in an effort to get
something to a level of perfection that
isn't needed oftentimes in an effort to
assert our value within an organization
we seek to be more complicated than it's
necessary the most beautiful answer is
often the simplest the clearest the most
parsimonious but in an effort to
demonstrate that we are expert that we
have knowledge that we are in tune with
the jargon we could create complex plans
flowcharts powerpoints that are not only
exhausting to create but are exhausting
for the audience to receive them so I
always encourage people to just stop for
a minute and ask am I asking the
clearest simplest question can other
people tell you what the goal is in one
sentence if the group you're working
with doesn't know where you're heading
and you've got a problem so can you put
it on to one piece of paper one sentence
that's a good sign people will sometimes
hold back their work and refine it and
refine it because they're not really
sure what it is that they're meant to do
so take the time clarify what the
expectations are don't get lost in your
own thoughts check it out with people
and if necessary actually have a
midpoint check in and say am I on the
right path is this the kinds of
information you need is this the quality
and depth of work that is expected and
then you can make the adjustments don't
wait to the last minute when you're
right before the deadline to see whether
or not it's good enough or perfect
enough
you
