"Perfect is the enemy of Good!" - Why failing can lead to progress.

How many times have you missed an opportunity simply because the conditions weren't absolutely perfect?

We can all agree, failing doesn't feel nice. As an employee, failing can be highly detrimental to your performance. As a leader or business owner, failing can lead to dire consequences that can have a huge impact on your business. So we plan. We analyze all the conditions, all the variables, all the outcomes.

"Failing to plan is planning to fail"

However we often fall into the trap of pursuing perfection at the expense of progress. Managers and leaders want their teams to produce high-quality work, but doing so can inadvertently create a culture that discourages risk-taking and innovation.

The pressure to achieve perfection can lead to procrastination, missed opportunities, and a demotivated workforce. This is where the saying "perfect is the enemy of good" comes into play.

There will always be room for improvement, for better conditions, for more certainty on the possible outcome. If you keep trying to achieve perfect conditions before you start executing you will simply never actually start DOING and doing is the only way to get you to that finish line.

Whether we are talking about a project, implementing a product or service or even in our personal lives, if you don't start you will never get there. Making mistakes along the way is inevitable, but when we do make mistakes and are given the freedom to take risks and try new things, we are more likely to come up with innovative solutions to problems and therefore we progress.

Failure should be seen as an opportunity to learn and grow, not as a reason to give up.

The pursuit of perfection can be a hindrance to progress, and failing to progress means getting left behind. Remember, perfect is the enemy of good, and good is better than nothing at all.