April 13, 2015

Perfection is Arrogance

We’ve all worked with these people. Perfectionists. Exacting people who want things done a specific way. Their way. The perfect way.

At least that’s what they hide behind. This idea that they have incredibly high standards, which explains why they are so demanding, of course.

This makes one key assumption: that they know what perfection is.

Now that’s mighty arrogant. Isn’t it?

Me, I prefer experimentation to perfection. Start building, ask questions, and observe the hell out of things. Correct mistakes along the way, and leave identifying perfection to the users. I’m not prescient enough to predict what people may want.

I choose humble experimentation.