Everything doesn't have to be amazing!

Everything doesn’t have to be a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Writing a blog, preparing a report, delivering a presentation? Tidying the cupboard, cleaning your desk, working out what to wear today? Watch out folks! We pile an incredible pressure on ourselves in today’s crazy world, trying to make the quality of what we do amazing.

But do you know what? Everything doesn’t have to be amazing.

Some things yes, but everything, nope. So cut it out. Cut out the stuff that you’re putting extra effort into trying to make it ‘amazing’ because you could be on a path to never-never land that doesn’t deliver an amazing feeling or the hoped-for amazing results.

Rather, set a standard that you’re going for and then when you’ve reached it, you’re done.

Oh, and save your amazings for weddings, birthdays, celebrations, holidays, experiences, special things, time with people … whatever the things are that are really, truly important to you in this life of yours.

>>Are you trying to make something a little too amazing right now... when 'good enough' would be good enough?

Oh the waste of unnecessary work

Oh, the waste of unnecessary work! We can be head down, diligently working away on a project or task and yet not know when it’s time to be done with it, to test it or share it or press 'go', launch or go live.

That's because it takes hindsight for us to make sense of things.

It could be that some of what we have done may have been a waste. Some of our time and effort may have been wasted. When we are deep in it we are too close and connected, too attached to it. We can be attached to the expectations we have or the standards we think we need to reach or the end results we think we are reaching for.

So how do we get hindsight sooner? How do you get yourself in a position where you can look back on what you’ve done ... sooner?

Put it out there, pilot, test and trial it. Even if it's not done yet. Then you’ll get feedback and insights and you’ll make sense of that. That’s hindsight.

Most people can press 'go' sooner on a project or task or piece of work. Sooner than they think. Are you holding back from pressing 'go'?

>> Where could you ‘go live’ with something today so the power of valuable hindsight arrives sooner?

An empty email box is the wrong measure of productivity

And likely a waste of time. I think it’s crazy that we would try to get to the bottom of our email inboxes and empty them as a priority.

Yes there are are fans of it, religious fanatics of getting to 'zero'. It’s an accomplishment indeed ... and damn it if we humans aren’t fired up, inspired and encouraged by progress we make. It makes us feel neat and tidy and organised and we know what's going on.

The control freak in us loves the control we gain over all that information, flicking it off to folders or ticking it off for filing or trash. But here's the question: how are you progressing on your goals, projects and initiatives? The stuff that really matters? I get it that an empty email inbox might seriously matter to you.

But might you possibly, maybe, potentially, be using the time and activity of "controlling" email as a distraction or procrastination from time spent on other more worthy, worthwhile and noble projects?

I'm not suggesting ignoring your email; but what's the measure of success with all your other projects?

Reply all with your thoughts! 😜 Are you a fan of living in your email inbox or are you facing out, making progress on other projects?

You could be working too long and hard on that thing

You could be working too long and hard on that thing. 

True. Shocking but true.

Working too hard for too long can lead us to burnout. The World Health Organisation recently categorized, called out and flagged that burnout is an actual thing, not just a cliched word or simple behaviour that could be remedied if we’d only manage our time better.

So why are we burning out? We’re working too long and too hard on things. We're often striving for some unattainable perfection, trying to make something better or neater or prettier because it’s 'not good enough' yet.

But hello! Effort doesn’t equal reward. Well, not equally anyway.

> Because something was hard work doesn't make it good.

> Because it took a long time doesn't make it better.

> Because we worked on it for hours and hours doesn't make the quality better, or necessarily reflect better on us.

Our relationship to time, effort and our own activity is distorted. Stop burning yourself out and start trying some of the newer ways of thinking and working that involve working in increments and iterations, and allowing imperfections.

Are you working long and hard on something at the moment that could fall into this category?

Good leadership means knowing when to go for 'good enough

Good leadership means knowing when to go for 'good enough' - for yourself and your team.

An article in CEOWORLD magazine explains how increments and iterations are the new perfect.

How do you do it?

1. Set a course for good enough rather than the pointless pursuit of perfection.

2. Stop expecting or requiring perfection. Accept first drafts, rough cuts and mock ups. The design industry and many other sectors thrive on them, gaining early feedback, ensuring efficiency of work going forward.

3. Make the standard clearer. Great leaders clarify the end goal or outcome, beyond a generic call for ‘high quality or ‘really good’. Explain the standard in a measurable way.

4. Improve over time. Allow learning, iterations and insights to build on first attempts.

The best and brightest organisations know the power of improving over time rather than expecting perfect. Most of all, assess whether you can go for ‘ish’ - somewhat, near enough - on more things, where near enough is good enough. Is 'ish' feasible, doable or acceptable? It’s a major productivity gain and it’s more motivating for teams when they complete work.