Remember Perfect Never Arrives

“We don’t want perfect to be the enemy of the good, is it better than what we’ve got?”

So said American Senator Mike Rounds (Rep. for S Dakota) when commenting on the supposed bi-partisan Dreamer Deal for immigrants into the USA, January 2018.

Is there anything worse than a buyer whom seeks perfection?

As the internet meme goes, “perfectionism is very dangerous”. You tend to end up never actually doing anything. Be happy with nothing. Stay stuck where you’re at and heading backwards for an eternity.

Apart from the plethora of modern day fables about the folly of waiting in vain for ‘perfection’, I was reminded of the product launch movements surrounding minimum viable product (MVP), don’t be afraid to put something “crappy” out there (via Guy Kawasaki), and release something every day (re: 37signals).

All aimed at making people get over the hurdle of procrastinating. Launch something. Anything. The hardest part is the start…

I was also reminded of that comedy-ish line, ‘they’re facts, don’t let facts get in the way of a good argument’. Whilst often used to secure empathy, it also raises the neat subtext of introducing the vital selling angle of emotion within decision making.

On the day of posting, the top returned google wisdom preached thus;

Perfectionism involves a tendency to set standards that are so high that they either cannot be met, or are only met with great difficulty. Perfectionists tend to believe that anything short of perfection is horrible, and that even minor imperfections will lead to catastrophe.

Yet the world does not end.

Sometimes, it is fine to do something even when it seems to be less than overwhelmingly flawless.

Is their perceived ‘must-have’ in truth a mere ‘nice-to-have’? If 80% of what they think they need can be done today for the standard money, then does it really matter for the moment about the other 20 which may hold prohibitive costs anyway? 

Does your prospect really want perfect to be the enemy of ‘good’? Especially when that good is way better than where they’re at right now?