The only enemy is not having the thing done

Should we add a few more chapters?
Do we need one last round of copy edits?
Is there anyone else on the team who can review the manuscript?
Do we send a few copies to our clients for feedback?
Can we wait until more data comes out that will further prove our point?
Does the graphic art need another set of eyes?

Sorry, but the answer is no. Absolutely not. Whatever question you are about to ask, assume my response is no.

It’s like my favorite scene in the worst spy movie of all time:

Scott, you just, don’t get it, do you? You don’t. Shush. Just shush. Knock knock? Who’s there? Shush. Let me tell you a little story about a man named shush. Even before you start, that was a preemptive shush, just know that we have a whole bag of shush with your name on it.

Creative people beware. In the eleventh hour of whatever project you’re making, the only enemy is not having the thing done. We have passed the point of no return. The time for optimizing and improving and enhancing has come and gone.

Schwartz makes the point in his book about the paradox of choice:

Believing that accepting good enough will make our decisions simpler. Our ultimate satisfaction from our decision decreases with every minute we spend pondering about the opportunity cost of that decision.

There’s only one problem with this argument. It doesn’t hold water with certain personalities. If your team is full of people who have very specific goals and feel the need to do everything in their power to achieve their goals, no matter how long it takes, shipping the project is going to be an uphill battle.

Adams, the most successful cartoonist of all time, explains the difference between two types, simplifiers and optimizers. The first type prefers the easy way to accomplish a task, even though some amount of extra effort might have produced a better outcome. Optimizers on the other hand, look for the very best solution, even if the extra complexity increases the odds of unexpected problems.

Personally, my tendency is more of a simplifier. Where done is not only better than perfect, it’s better than good. Quality isn’t the point, finishing is.

After finishing a writing project recently, one colleague of mine asked me if there someone specific we wanted to read the book.

And my response was, not really. It doesn’t matter if anyone reads it, it only matters that we wrote it.

It’s not about being the finest, it’s about being the first.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Can you tell the difference between patience and procrastination?