If you get a 99% quality haircut or a 99% close-to-perfect meal, it’s better than good. On the other hand, if the scrub nurse only does a 99% job of disinfecting the tools in the operating room, you’re still going to die of an infection. Some projects respond very well to ordinary effort and 99% perfect. In fact, the last 1% isn’t worth the time, the effort or the focus. Others fail if they’re not fully and completely to spec. Knowing the difference between the two saves everyone a lot of stress and avoids needless cost and avoidable disasters. We come out ahead when we put our energy into the projects that reward our effort and choose to meet spec with the others.
FROM: Seth Godin’s Daily Blog
REFLECTION:
- Are you able to discern which projects need the last 1%?
- Are there projects that would be good enough with 99%?
- Look at your list of projects which require the extra effort and focus and which ones could just meet spec.
- Implement accordingly.
