I’ve launched new businesses and products on the premise of “good enough.” We built TheBrewersMarket.com in 30 days with the goal of reaching a “good enough” stage. Startups often launch software in beta when it’s “good enough”. Microsoft Windows was released as “good enough”, and they still haven’t got it right!
Sometimes we struggle. We could waiver and tinker and edit forever, and we’d never actually be able to hit the launch or publish button. Projects would be sidelined, scrapped, and given up on. It’s the single biggest trap for entrepreneurs to fall into – the endless pursuit of perfection.
Reading the Steve Job’s autobiography, it becomes quickly apparent that “good enough” was never an option for Steve. Steve was only interested in perfect. Even the internal components of a computer that most people would never see were meticulously refined over and over. You might even say that Steve was a little crazy when you read that out of 800 shades of beige, he couldn’t find the perfect one, so he had them develop an 801st shade.
The question we have to ask is, Do we have the determination, willingness and persistence to push beyond what’s “good enough” and still get our product, service, book, or blog post, etc. out the door?
To make a dent in the universe, it seems that “good enough” might not be good enough.
Here’s to the crazy ones.
P.S. The “Here’s to the crazy ones” commercial above is usually heard with Richard Dreyfuss as the narrator. Steve had done a few takes but they originally went with the Dreyfuss version. It seems now, this one with Steve narrating is more appropriate.
