Done is better than perfect

I used to consider myself a perfectionist, especially at school and in my first jobs. According to the RAE, perfectionism is “Tendency to improve a job indefinitely without deciding to consider it finished”. Now I identify less and less with this ideology and instead I am guided by the phrase “Done is better than perfect”.

In other words: It is preferable to launch something even if it is not perfect than never to launch it.

This applies both to launching a product/service/venture and to launching yourself to do something, for example occupying a position or starting to do an activity, later you can continue learning to be better and better.

It is important to point out that it refers to the product not being perfect but being “usable”, you shouldn’t deliver something unfinished either.

So the next time you don’t dare to do or share something because “it’s just not perfect yet”, remember this phrase and maybe it will give you the push you need.

To finish, a related phrase attributed to Reid Hoffman, co-founder of Linked-In: “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late”.