I was sent this post by someone who wishes to remain anonymous. We were constantly going back and forth over this concept and I really like his way of thinking. Now this might not be for everybody but it is definitely food for thought. It is a long post so I have decided to break it up over two parts. Let me know what you think. Do you ever apply this concept?
From now on, I want you to put an equal amount of blueberries in each muffin….I don’t care how long it takes. Put an equal amount in each muffin.
(Ace Rothstein: Casino)
I have always been a perfectionist. I have a keen eye for detail. I care about the little things. I care when I didn’t get 100% on my first years statistics paper because I misread a question. I am convinced that attention to detail matters. The little things do count. I understand when Ace (played by De Niro in the gansta film ‘Casino’) gets hacked off because there are a different number of blueberries in his muffin compared to his colleagues. However, in pursuit of perfection you must be fully aware of the TIME factor.
Time is limited. You can increase time at work, by employing more staff or working longer hours, but then COST (as well as the “you live to work” discussion takes place) becomes a factor. Presuming that TIME and COST are not unlimited, then there needs to be a check in place in pursuit of perfectionism. That is where the 70% rule comes in.
Why 70%?
7/10 is acceptable. It is good. It’s not great, but its good. It basically means, we are happy for customers to eat that “muffin” and be satisfied with our service.
Lets focus on that blueberry muffin. Of course technology can help save time in the pursuit of perfectionism (for example I can use a database system to calculate the number of 16 year old students that missed more than one class last week, whereas in the past this would have to have been calculated by hand), but lets imagine we take technology out of the equation for this particular example. The time taken in order to make each muffin “perfect” in the eyes of “Ace” could possibly take 3/4 times more than to actually make the muffin in the first place. Lets repeat that line
“The time taken in order to make the muffin “perfect” in the eyes of “Ace” could possibly take 3/4 maybe 5 times more than to actually make the muffin in the first place.”
So what does that mean? Couldn’t we use this time more effectively elsewhere to improve another aspect of either business or personal life. For the chef who made the muffin, instead of spending the time making the new muffin “perfect”, he could have spent that same time working on another area of weakness within the kitchen. You see, the 70% rule only works, when you accept the fact the business or your personal life has many weaknesses. If you accept this fact, then you must also accept the fact that time (either created through new employees or by saving time spent on other jobs) is required in order to improve these weaknesses. If we consider that, then we must also consider that time spent perfecting one task could actually be damaging the overall image/output of the business/personal life.
To Be Continued Next Week
I agree!
I am a sucker for details (especially written words and in design), but am not a perfectionist. In fact, have always maintained perfectionism is a waste of time and could never understand the people that boast about it. BUT devil is in the small things, so the key is to pay attention and then do things right. I just never knew it had a name, the 7/10 rule sounds like home. I would liken it to when you’re getting ready to go out, if running late, that final accessory might need to be left behind for the sake of getting the party startes
[...] myself particular questions and took action. It took a couple of months to get to what I call the 70% rule with most things but once I did I actually became more productive. I started thinking that having [...]
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