Imagine a room of people saying stuff like this:
“Yeah, maybe. But is there another way to say it, I mean a way that’s more precise, more engaging, more…. I don’t know what. Isn’t there a better way? Let’s caucus. Let’s take more time. Let me ask my sister. Let’s leave it open. Let’s not decide and finalize it just yet.”
Sound familiar? Do you find yourself wondering if you can table a decision, getting to it when you might be in a fresher state of mind or maybe just a different one? Do you find yourself putting off what needs to be done, or delaying important decisions, just because you imagine a better option out there—the big, nebulous, airy “there”—that’ll eventually, soon enough, arrive?
Say you’re naming your new company, and want the perfect, all-encompassing name. You’re picking a destination for your two-week travel holiday. You’re weighing the pros and cons of a new job offer. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, however you’re thinking, the big decisions need to be made.
That much you know.
Getting around to actually making them is another story.
Because you wonder. What if you did x? Wouldn’t y have been better? The answer is: who knows.
Getting the perfect solution is less important than coming up with a solution you can test. Once you have some data, then you can revisit, fine-tune, edit. Go to Cincinnati if crowds were too much in Waikiki. Order cheesecake instead of cheese. Quit your job, find another.
But go. Order. Switch.
You have to start with a first draft if you ever want to write that masterpiece.
As Voltaire puts it: “Better is the enemy of good.”
Here’s what a NASA project manager says about this enlightening thought from Voltaire.
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