Perfectly Imperfect

Pretty Darned Good

It started with another one of those “How good is 99%” sort of columns, you know – the kind that conjure up images of planes crashing and people dying from getting the wrong prescriptions in scary sorts of numbers.

And while they may pull out statistics to make their point, we know that things like that sometimes happen. We know that nothing is perfect.

So how can we still be living here among all this imperfection?!?

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Six Sigma Quality

I actually understand the concepts behind this particular author’s article – that striving for near-zero defects is a great goal. I’m not interested in opening my bag of candy and getting anything other than the candy pictured on the bag!

But let’s share some equal time with “good enough might be less than 100%”

Sports

This is a great place to look because we make our sports very difficult – sometimes impossible – to achieve perfection.

• If you could complete just 70% of your passes in the NFL, you’d stand head and shoulders above the rest.
• If you could get a hit in just 50% of your at-bats, you’d dominate Major League Baseball.
• And if you could put the puck in the net just 25% of the time when you shoot in the NHL, you could be on the top of the leader board.

Things are just that difficult.

Ok, but what about in real life

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

And some may argue that a straight line is the perfect path if traveling from one place to another.

But how often do pilots fly in a perfectly straight line from where they take off to where they land?

Not as often as you might think – they are traveling through an environment that includes outside influences – the wind and weather. They guide the plane in the general direction they’d like to go, using a system of standard corridors, with the assistance of ground control.

They don’t just point at the next airport and go straight there.

The idea is that they travel in the direction of their destination and correct their course as they go.

You don’t have to be perfect – because you aren’t

Perfection is tricky. There’s always something new to consider, and the stress of perfection can be a heavy load.

Giving it your best – that’s always a good guide.

Build systems that respond to “out of the ordinary” situations, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that they are perfect. Just build them to respond to abnormal situations well.

And that’s what you should do too – keep moving towards your goal and adjust your course as needed.