Is "Pretty Good" "Good Enough"?

[dourobob]

Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

One of my favourite farmers/authors, Joel Salatin, wrote an essay one time, I think it was called "Pretty Good is Good Enough".
One of his examples was about his Dad who was a perfectionist. His Dad would get upset if a gate was not built perfectly square at the corners. Joel seemed to think the cattle wouldn't notice a difference of a few degrees out of square and, as long as the gate worked to keep the cattle on the proper side of it, well, it was "pretty good" and therefore "good enough".
Recognizing there are times when perfection is absolutely needed (airplanes come to mind) it is also important to recognize the times when "pretty good" is exactly what is required and the time invested to make something more than "pretty good" might be better spent on another project.

Interesting approach. What do you think?

Bob

 

[Bird]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

Bob, that reminds me of an old friend who used to say, "The nemesis of good is better." He expressed the thought that trying to improve something a little bit might make it worse. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif However, this same guy was something of a perfectionist himself. He once sold what I considered a perfectly good radial arm saw to buy a new one because the first once wasn't quite precise enough. And when we did little jobs together, like painting the inside of our houses, we always let him do the little tedious jobs like painting trim because he would be more careful than most. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Henro]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

Bob,

I think perfection is an illlusion.

People just stop at whatever lever of "good enough" they are comfortable with.

Even airplanes have tolerences and they are not all perfectly identical. They are just all good enough.

Good, better, best
Never let it rest
Till the good get better
And the better get best

This is not something I want to live by!

I would rather let it rest and enjoy, when "good enough" is reached. I'll let the others chase the elusive goal of perfection and being best. I said elusive but meant illusionary! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

And remember...

#1 is not necessarily the goal of a smart #2!

That is saying I saw written on the wall in the last steel mill where I worked. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

<font color="blue"> #1 is not necessarily the goal of a smart #2! </font>

Winners never quit.

Quitters never win.

Those that never win and never quit are Idiots


Saw this on the Bathroom wall where I work.

 

[MikeInIdaho]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

Perfect is often too good! When you make something perfect you have invested so much time and/or money in it that it looses some of its utility. When I was younger, I polished and plated everything in the engine compartment and suspension on a Corvette. The I wouldn't drive it in the morning when the roads might be wet from people watering their lawns. By the time it was "safe" to drive, there were no "safe" parking spaces availible. I had made my car too nice to be practical.

You would think that I learned a lesson but then I did this to the interior of my airplane:

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/photogallery/MU-2%20Mike/Rear%20Cabin.jpg

So maybe I didn't!

 

[Harv]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

How many products go to market before they are "perfected"?

Pretty good is good enough. Just ask Bill Gates. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Buck]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

Or better yet, ask one of his competitors. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Bird]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Pretty good is good enough. Just ask Bill Gates )</font>

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gifVery good. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

What a great topic for discussion.

I have a reputation for being a perfectionist. I think people are a little hard on me. I see it only as wanting things right.

For me the biggest motivator in seeking perfection is I believe it's all about the journey. The destination is where you land when you've done everything else.

From that perspective it's easy to appreciate striving for perfection as being more important than the perfection itself.

I'd like to think I understand that perfection is an illusion. I do know that I work at it and something somehow always seems to sabotage a project from being totally perfect. I guess it's because I understand that is why I find things as being parts more than a whole.

That way I can dig a perfect hole and get that satisfaction. I can follow that with a perfectly plumb post that's in line and at the right height the first time. I get the warm fuzzies over that part of the job.

Then when it's all done and I look down the line and see a bobble or a waver I'm disappointed. But only a little bit. Because I understand that there were so many good things that happened producing that line. And the next time I will go for the real perfect one because this one was so close.

I've even got this attitude down to the point that I look for perfect post hole digger loads. I find myself trying to bring it up full each and every time. When I don't I'm disappointed and more determined that the next trip down will not come back up as a failure.

Maybe a better way to describe it would be to look at an oil painting from just an inch or so. The perfection is in each and every brush stroke and color choice. With so many there's lots of opportunity for failure. And there will be an imperfection here and there. But as one backs away and gets perspective the individual brush stroke and color failures are obscured by the overall affect of the painting itself.

I see work that way.

But I also understand that if there are too many imperfections or if the overall concept is wrong, it's crap. I don't want to be known for that.

I used to teach telephone cable splicing. One of the points I always tried to get across was that there was an imaginary line. On one side of the line would be quality. On the other side would be production.

Production without quality would become expensive due to repairs and corrections. Quality at the price of production would be expensive too. So what we wanted to do was find that pace where the quality was high and so was the production.

Like I said, great topic, I live it everyday, trying.

 

[KiotiJohn]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( You would think that I learned a lesson but then I did this to the interior of my airplane</font> SECURITY ALERT!!
You have a stowaway hiding under one of the seats. Could be a terrorist. Please contact airport security for immediate removal of the perpetrator. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif John

 

[mrcaptainbob]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

I must've worked with yer brother! This guy told us that he used to wash and wax the UNDERSIDE of his car! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gifHe will NOT eat a banana if there's a brown spot on the skin! But the quality of his work was outstanding! It was always a pleasure to follow up on a job of his. Everything was neat and in order.

 

[dourobob]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

Harv
I bet your customers would have had trouble finding the "wrinkle" you saw in your finished product unless you ponted it out to them. Perspective is really the key here and you raise the further question "are most folks really their toughest ctitics"? I'm not saying that is a bad thing here, but it may mean a great deal of time is being spent reaching for a level of perfection that most customers never really expect.
Bob

 

[Bird]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

Harv, I think you've got the right handle on it. I've had a bit of a reputation of being a perfectionist myself, but I'm afraid a lot of people don't really understand what a perfectionist is. It's not that we do things perfectly, just that we want everything to be perfect, and as you said, it ain't gonna happen. As a result, we're never quite satisfied with hardly anything we do. And perhaps worse than that, we're never satisfied with what others do. The danger in that is that we tend to be too critical of both ourselves and other people. I think your comments show that you understand that and have reached a very good balance.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

Thank you Bird.

One of the things we haven't talked about here is the perfectionists that are frozen with fear. They don't attempt to do anything because they know they can't do it themselves to the level they'd like to have.

Two of my best friends are polishers. They spend more time polishing and cleaning than is healthy. One time I was helping one of them build his fence. He let me know he had a job open for me at his company. I would have a future.

I changed the perspective of the conversation to him working for me instead. He let me know it'd never work. One of us would be dead within thirty days. He couldn't work with my perfectionism. But he would sure like to have it working for him.

BTW I did take him up on his offer. It didn't work out. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Saying it was a tempest in a teapot would be an understatement. I was an inspector for his company. The fella that replaced me was asked if the truck he was driving was my old one. When he said it was he was told to leave for his own safety. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Someone might think I was back and shoot it full of holes. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

An interesting sidelight to this attitude is the kinds of people I generally get for customers. Usually they're referals. And most of the time they're very picky. I like picky customers. They appreciate good work.

Birds of a feather alive and well you think?

 

[Bird]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( One of the things we haven't talked about here is the perfectionists that are frozen with fear. They don't attempt to do anything because they know they can't do it themselves to the level they'd like to have. )</font>

Yep, you definitely have a good understanding of "perfectionism." /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[RonL]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

Harv

This thread also strikes a nerve with me. I am of an extremely obsessive nature. I am very intolerant of things that are done half a** . I am most intolerant with myself. Some of my previous endeavors required a high level of attention to detail: firearms instructor, SWAT team leader. sniper. There was virtually no margin for error. Probably suited my personality. And probably irritated other people. The perspective of time has probably mellowed me in some aspects but made me more obsessive in others. I accept that other people are less obsessive than me. But I am more obsessive with myself.
Twenty some odd years ago I bought an apartment building in the City. It was a converted Victorian mansion that had a carriage shed and a fair size lot. The previous owner was a foreman for a construction company and had spent 30 years doing " repairs" to the building. I have spent the last twenty some odd years repairing the "repairs". Some of the things he did completely astounded me. I went up on the roof to strip it and put on a new roof. The previous owner had tarred the roof directly to the roof boards. After spending a whole day chiselling off two feet of the roof I gave up and roofed over the old roof. The electricity was a complete mess. When you turned a certain light on the rest of the lights would grow brighter. A porch was closed in by laying untreated wood on the soil. The list went on and on. Being at that point in my life where I am building my vacation/retirement home I am going by the mantra that I do not want to do this all over again. I do not want to be in my twilight years having to repair things that should have been done right the first time. Especially anything to do with sewerage. ( Don't ask! ). I bought a backhoe and dozer with the idea that i might hire out after I retire. But mostly i bought them with the idea that I'll have them on site and won't have to rush and do a half a** job because I need to get the contractors equipment to the next job. I can take my time and do each aspect right. Since I'm not on a fixed schedule I can lean towards that side of the line that is perfection and sacrifice some production. When people tell me something is good enough I nod and go about doing it the way I intend.
I think that people can be intellectually lazy also. This site and thousands of others offer a wealth of information. If you do the research there is no reason to go into a project blind. The knowledge is out there.
Enough of my ramblings.

RonL

 

[CJDave]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif "Pretty Good" is rarely good enough for me, and yes, i have been acused of being a perfectionist. Although I think that is an invalid assessment of my temperment and attitude, I am definitely one who wants things......even the ones nobody sees.......to be as right as they can be FROM A PRACTICAL STANDPOINT. If you've ever worked in a foreign country; especially Central America, Meh-he-ko, or the Middle East, you instantly become aware of the penalty for having a universal motto among those who build that states simply: "It DOESN'T MATTER." That motto; which is widely practiced, produces what I call "functional wrong". The water comes out of the faucet, but that's about it. Home repairs are notorious for being "functional wrong", and sometimes downright dangerous. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[gws]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

Good enough for who?

Take a common thread here. Harbor Freight, Hoemier tool sales. For some those are good enough quality tools, for others they are junk.

Good enough?

 

[Junkman]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

As one carpenter that was working on my house said to me at lunch time when I pointed out that the wall he was working on wasn't plumb.... "I won't see it from my house". He wasn't there after lunch to know how that wall turned out at the end of the day. I figured that I was going to be living in this house long after he was long gone and that it mattered enough to me to make sure that it was built the way that I wanted. That is why I took time off from work to supervise the work from start to finish. The workers that objected to my overseeing the job, didn't stay on the job very long. It might not be perfect, but it is built to my standard, which is "good enough for me"!!!!! Perfection like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder. Has anyone seen my glasses??? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Henro]

Re: Is \"Pretty Good\" \"Good Enough\"?

Interesting thread. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

At some point in my life I learned that no matter how good, big, bad or indifferent I might think I am...there was always going to be someone just a little better, bigger, badder or more indifferent than me who would come along. And if he turned out to be my equal, he would probably just be having a better day than me when we met!

So I tend to do the best I can within my personal limits and live with that. I may not be as good at whatever I do as the better ones are, but I am often better at what I do than some others are.

I think this is good enough.

Might even be perfection! Who says perfection has to be perfect???

Wow! Maybe perfection is not an illusion after all... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif