Good Enough Is Not Always Good Enough
Perfectionism was once a sign of good work, but the truly productive people of the world have come to the conclusion that it is best to be content with “good enough.” It’s okay when you’re making small decisions, like choosing which toothbrush to buy. As a lifestyle, it’s rubbish that keeps you from becoming great.
Last week in The Atlantic, they stated that the settlement makes people happier and more satisfied with life in general. People who agree are “contented” and generally happier than “maximizers” who are always looking for the best option. Those who maximize every decision they make suffer from decision fatigue and feel like they are always missing out on something better. If you settle for “good enough” —be it a job, a relationship, or whatever — you can relieve that stress and be happier. But if you go too far, this idea is holding you back.
Without “maximizers”, “satisfying” cannot exist
More than a decade ago, psychologist Barry Schwartz published The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less , which articulates that agreeing to “good enough” makes decisions easier. Every day we are faced with too many options and take the time to find the best one. When you just settle for “good enough,” you can move on to the things that matter.
In a conversation with psychology blogger Eric Barker, Schwartz notes that satisfying people are happier because they don’t spend as much time making decisions or worrying about missing out on something. One solution, according to Schwartz, is to take advantage of your maximizer friends :
Whenever you need a new laptop, call one of your maximizer friends and say, “What laptop did you buy?” And you buy this laptop. Will this be the perfect laptop for you? Probably no. Will this be a good enough laptop for you? Absolutely. It takes you five minutes to make a decision instead of five weeks, and this is a “good enough” decision. You need a place to eat in the city you are visiting, so call another friend who has been to that city. Just go to the restaurant he tells you to. I don’t think you can delegate all decisions in life this way, but you can certainly delegate a heck of a lot of them. What’s best for your friend won’t work for you, but most likely will be enough for you. I think this is a great way to reduce the clutter and paralysis that people suffer from. Just ask for advice and follow it.
In short, people who are satisfied can only benefit if they have maximalist friends. Or at least they can only win when things like The Wirecutter or our very own Hive Five exist to help them make choices. You cannot delegate the decision-making process to someone who does not exist, so these maximizers must remain, otherwise the pillar of the system will fall apart.
You keep yourself from doing what you want to do
The choice of which TV to buy or the quality of today’s business work is usually for the best. But if you do it for everything, you will never do what you want.
Take something as simple as a vacation, for example. You have always wanted to ski in the Swiss Alps. But you know what? Salt Lake City is good enough for skiing, so you’ll just do it again this year. And next year. And a year after that. After all, you are too old to ski and never did what you wanted to do. You regret it, but now there is nothing to be done.
This is an extreme example, but the fact remains that if you settle for “good enough,” you will never do what you want to do. You can apply the same premise to your work projects, those you meet, and everything else in life.
Good enough means you won’t spend enough time to be successful.
If you always settle for “good enough,” you are not going to challenge yourself to do great things or become a real expert at anything. As writer Scott H Young points out , “Stopping at ‘good enough’ is an easy way to make sure you’re not going to be remarkable or accomplishing anything.” When you approach everything as “good enough,” it is difficult to realize yourself.
Young divides perfectionism into different types: good and bad, short-term and long-term. Short-term excellence is when you are obsessed with a small project that is unnecessary. You may be spending too much time answering your first essay on an exam, or refining your resume instead of submitting it. This is bad perfectionism, and a great example of when “good enough” is good enough (because it helps you move forward).
However, in long-term projects, perfectionism is critical. If you want to master something, you have to keep pushing yourself to explore new ways of doing things. You always settle for something that is acceptable, but not the best, and you will not get better.
Let’s say you are a programmer. You have worked in the industry for several years and run your company with a ” done better than perfect ” attitude. It’s okay for something to end up in the hands of consumers. But whatever this product is, it won’t stand out from the rest if it doesn’t have something special about it. If you keep making more and more products that are “good enough,” you will never have time to get better at what you do. You will be faster and more efficient, but you will not master the set of intangible skills to do something great. Good enough is great for limiting your choices, but don’t let that limit your potential.
Find a balance between your desire for maximization and satisfaction.
As with everything else, I’m not saying good enough doesn’t belong. It’s about balance. Schwartz and others usually argue that “good enough, almost always good enough.” I would say “good enough, sometimes good enough.”
Most likely, you are an expert in something. At least you have a hobby or interest in which you have accumulated a ton of knowledge, explored many different options, and come to your own conclusions about what is best. Basically, in certain respects, you are maximizing, but you enjoy doing it so much that you do not realize it. Use it: Be a maximizer when it matters and be content with things that don’t matter to you.
If you love something, “good enough” is never enough. And that’s okay. Perfectionism gets a bad reputation these days because we are trained to think that perfectionists don’t do anything, but that’s not entirely true. Perfectionists do less but do better, and that’s okay if you don’t strive to do it your whole life. Choose your battles wisely.
Choosing a toothbrush? Limit your choices and move on . Looking for a new set of tools for your favorite project? Take time to find what works best for you.