How to be an Imperfectionist

“Perfection is the enemy of progress.” - Winston Churchill*

*Maybe. He might have said this, but no one has been able to attribute it to him. It’s good enough for this article though.

Saab was known for its perfectionist approach to car design and engineering. 

But while they obsessed on their engineering, they lost sight of the finances. 

Saab put so much emphasis into designing the perfect car that by the late 1990s each vehicle was selling at a loss.

Saab was in trouble.

Luckily one of the largest car manufactures in the world, General Motors, stepped in and bought the business giving Saab a lifeline. 

Now Saab could make significant cost savings by building their new cars on the same platform as GM’s other brands like Opel and Vauxhall.

All they had to do was change the body and badges and they’d profit. 

They had a second chance. 

But Saab were perfectionists, and they insisted that the GM platform also needed to be improved. 

They developed their own engines, they added bigger wheels, an entirely different rear axle, they even developed a completely new sat nav system from scratch. 

By the time they released their new car they had tinkered and changed over 60% of the components.

So there were no longer any cost savings and they were straight back to losing money on every car they produced. 

By 2011, Saab went bankrupt, killed by their priority of achieving perfection.

The perfectionist trap

Saab collectively fell into the perfectionist trap - where striving for higher standards results in lower attainment.

Perfectionism is a successful trait early in people’s lives.

Perfectionism thrives at school where you have problems and tasks with neat, defined outcomes. 

Assignments and exams have clear criteria for success, grades provide tangible feedback and the structured environment helps perfectionists manage their time and resources effectively.

You can get 100% in a maths test.

But perfectionism struggles, and often fails entirely, in work environments.

Real-world projects have dynamic, collaborative environments and messy goals. 

You can’t get 100% at work.

And if people are still striving for academic perfection they find that timelines slip, creativity gets held back and output drops.

Perfectionism kills professional productivity.

How to be an imperfectionist

Don’t strive for perfectionism, strive for excellence and strive for output.

Before starting any project, step back and determine what level of imperfection you need to aim for.

Saab always tried to hit a 10/10 when they should have aimed for 9.

If you’re designing a major brand seest or website, aim for an 8.

If you’re creating a minimum viable product, aim for a 6.

If you’re churning out a social media post go for a 4.

For this article I aimed for a 7.

I’m an imperfectionist

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.” - Anne Lamott

"The best is the enemy of good" - Voltaire