Last year at rowing camp in Arizona, I had dinner with an artist. Something she said has stayed with me ever since.
This rower, one of many interesting people I’ve met through my rowing hobby/obsession, had a business creating and selling unique glass and ceramic sculptures. Over dinner, I asked her what it was like to do her work.
She told me the hardest part wasn’t making the art, it was seeing the value in it.
I asked her why.
She replied that when she creates her sculptures, there’s a picture in her mind of how it will turn out, and it’s perfect. But the real piece that emerges doesn’t ever look just right.
This really struck me – so often, we hesitate to share our work because we’re afraid the reality won’t measure up to our aspirations.
It shows up as procrastination: delaying a task because we can’t do it perfectly.
It shows up in meetings: holding back a comment because it’s not fully fleshed out.
It shows up in career opportunities: hesitating to take on a project because we’re not sure we’ll excel.
But then, the artist said something else:
When people buy her work, they love it. They’re delighted. They don’t know what was in her head—they only see and appreciate what’s in front of them.
That resonated too. Like now, I’m trying to write the perfect newsletter article. If I waited until it was perfect, there would be no newsletter.
Instead, by sharing my “good enough” version, there’s a chance my readers will find something useful, certainly more useful than if the ideas just stayed in my head.
The same is true for you. Someone in your work life needs to hear what you have to say. Maybe it’s a colleague in a meeting, your direct report, your boss, or even the Board of Directors.
And you and your organization benefit more from your 80% completed work now than from the 110% overachieved work you never finish.
Here are three ways to practice putting your thoughts and your work out into the world:
- Pick one meeting where you usually stay quiet. Notice when an idea rises in you, and say it out loud.
- When working on a project with others, hand off your work the moment you feel your energy leave it. That’s probably a sign you’re done.
- If you tend to over-edit emails or presentations, set a timer. When the timer goes off, hit “send.”
It’s counterintuitive, but I’ve seen it over and over; when you let go of needing the perfect answer, your productivity and your impact actually rise. And so do you.
Happy imperfect practice,
