Progress, Not Perfection

Perfectionism is a productivity killer wearing a quality costume.

I've lost months - probably years - to projects that never shipped because they weren't "ready." Features that never launched. Content that never published. Systems that never went live.

All in the name of quality. All wasted.

The 80% Approach

Dan Sullivan has this concept called the 80% Approach. Ship when you're at 80%. Get feedback. Iterate. Let the real world make it better.

Sounds obvious. Brutally hard to practice.

That voice in your head saying "just one more tweak" is the enemy of progress. It promises quality but delivers stagnation.

Why This Matters More Now

AI and automation amplify the compounding effect of shipping early.

An imperfect system that runs 100 times teaches you more than a perfect system you never deploy. Each iteration improves. Each run generates data. Each failure shows you what to fix.

The learning happens in production. Not in planning.

The Uncomfortable Phase

Here's what they don't tell you: early versions feel terrible.

Slower than doing it manually. More errors than expected. Embarrassing outputs you'd never show a client.

This is normal. This is the dip.

Most people quit here. They decide automation doesn't work. AI isn't ready. The old way was better.

But the ones who push through? The compounding curve flips. Suddenly the system is faster, more reliable, and better than anything they could do manually.

My Shipping Rule

If I'm 80% happy with something, it ships.

Not when it's perfect. Not when every edge case is handled. Not when I can't think of any improvements.

When it's good enough to learn from. That's the bar.

Compound Interest on Progress

Imperfect systems that run early beat perfect systems that launch late. Every time.

The gap between "shipped last month" and "shipping next month" isn't one month. It's all the learning, iteration, and improvement that happens in between.

What are you holding back that's good enough to ship?

That's the question worth asking.