I remember once upon a time, in a career some years ago, where we spent months “wordsmithing” internal strategy documents.
- We went through 20 different permutations of copy for the same idea.
- We let everyone chime in with a version.
- We did this multiple times throughout the entire document.
It had to be:
“PERFECT!”
How many of you reading this…
Have you ever released something (anything), where you’d spent countless hours laboring over a small detail, only to release it and have NOTHING happen at all? No notable success, no notable failure. Just nothing at all.
Do you read your own writing, and picture your reader arduously looking over every word, seeking out the typos or (questionable) flaws in grammar. Do you worry that they’ll judge you for your use of the oxford comma, or contractions? Do you think they sit there and compare the “voice” to your previous articles?
…
Bottom line: how many of you are stressing yourself out over details that likely won’t matter, or spend so much time worrying about the little details that you don’t release a damn thing?
It’s been said that “Perfect is the enemy of good.” I believe this to be among the most truthful statements ever said.
Here are some more truths…
Few things are DONE. Most things are ITERATIVE. Let that truth free you.
It’s extremely difficult to get people to care about anything at all, especially in the beginning. So while you labor and obsess over it, you’ll be lucky if anyone pays any attention at all. Don’t let that depress you, let it inspire you. You have the freedom to be less than perfect since few will notice. Those that do can be engaged.
You have to put the time in. You have to manage risk. You have to do the work.
But you also must publish.
And you must resist perfect.