When Better Beats Best

I was talking to a client recently and they’re developing this series of marketing brochures for their new company. They’re doing the work mostly in-house and asked for my opinion. I spent a little time and sent over some leading questions for them to react to; they came back with some good answers while other things they just skimmed over… which can be a warning sign that there’s an issue you need to explore.

And that was my dilemma. I wasn’t being hired to do the work (so I had no direct responsibility here nor was my income tied to the work) but I also like these folks and ultimately want to see them succeed so I felt a little conflicted. I knew that they were potentially missing a way to make their materials better so I posed the question again, worded a bit differently, and decided that was as far as I’d push it.

I did this partly because that fit my role as advisor. But as a professional who was working with them in another area, I still feel some responsibility here. And, honestly, if I felt very strongly that they were making a serious mistake, I’d continue to push my point at least until I was satisfied they understood my concerns; we weren’t anywhere near that point. What also helped was my taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture.

The reality is that they have no marketing collateral today aside from their website. Combine that with the fact that what I am suggesting perhaps refines the piece some and maybe makes it a bit better and more effective, but it’s not like it was going to harm them if it goes in its present form.

Perhaps more importantly, had I continued to push to make this the best it could possibly be, it could have taken significantly more time to complete. Time that could have been spent using the marketing materials to find new clients and make new sales.

And that’s the crux of this post – are there times when better beats best? If I’m going in for open-heart surgery, I probably would want to hold out for the best doctor available. But in most day-to-day situations, I’ve found that taking informed action – not necessarily perfect action – is far more helpful to long-term success.

Some of you may be familiar with Doug Hall. Doug’s a former Procter & Gamble professional who, years ago, established a consulting practice that was designed to help people and businesses innovate more effectively. Doug’s gone on to write several books, host various TV shows and start several companies including his most recent, Brain Brew Custom Whiskey.

Last year, I had the opportunity to go through some training with Doug’s company and heard him speak several times. One of the most profound comments he made was that, if you are debating something for more than 10 minutes, stop talking and go out and do something that helps you get smarter.

Mind you, what you do doesn’t have to be this huge research project or some expensive experiment; rather, Doug encouraged us to find ways to gather useful information quickly and without a lot of cost. Put another way, take what you know – which maybe is “good” – and find a way to make it better. Eventually, you do enough iterations on this and you end up with something pretty amazing.

So while I appreciate and respect perfection whenever I come across it, this recent conversation has reminded me that it often comes with a price. And that price is not just the time, effort or resources that go into crafting something that’s perfect but also the opportunity cost of not going with something that’s maybe almost as good. So I challenge myself – and you – to ask that question often and to decide if what you have today is, just perhaps, good enough.

Know that I’m pulling for you!