When it comes to entrepreneurs there are entrepreneurs and there are ulcerpreneurs. The entrepreneurs favor a fast pace and quantity over quality while the ulcerpreneurs favor insomnia, insanity, and bleeding ulcers over serenity.
General Patton said it best when he said,
“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”
In entrepreneurship, the quest for perfection in all things is the enemy of progress. Rapid movement, violent execution drive competitive startups forward towards the win. While the amount of time, energy, and effort required to take an 80% solution and button it up to bullet-proof will be the difference of early market mover to a cautionary tale of failure.
If companies like Microsoft, and Oracle waited until their products worked before they brought them to market there wouldn’t be a Gates Foundation or an Oracle America’s Cup racing team.
We humans are funny. We are who we are. And if we were leopards we would not easily be able to change our spots. When evaluating the personality profiles of typical entrepreneurs, I have observed a large number have the fast pace, perfectionist pattern. Think about yourself. Do you fall in that category?
If you do….. perhaps you should think about compromising on perfection spots in favor of rapid execution stripes. Prioritize the few things that need to be perfect and look the other way on the rest of your to-do list. Or…give up sleep. Give up any hope for serenity. Sacrifice your personal life, your health and find a good Gastroenterologist.
If you’re running a business and you’d like some help evaluating the delicate balance between making it perfect or getting it done… link here to schedule a complimentary one-on-one coaching session.
