Knowing When to Stop Seeking Perfection

  By Dave Krause | May 15, 2012 - 7:38 pm | Leadership
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the-perfect-moment

I've always seen myself as somewhat of a perfectionist. I'm obsessive compulsive about quality towards a lot of the things I do. It takes me twice as long as my wife to vacuum because I want a perfectly clean floor. I like to tape the walls when we paint because I am accurate to the millimeter. I prefer to take the lead on group projects because I am overly concerned about the quality of our deliverables. I graduated summa cum laude from school because I sought a perfect GPA. I've spent an unordinate amount of time analyzing problems sometimes because I seek the perfect solution. I'll spend hours preparing a powerpoint deck.

I've come to realize the pursuit of perfection is flawed. Perfect is impossible.  In business pursuing perfection can lead to a loss in value. As Seth Godin explains in his book Linchpin, ideas need to ship in order to create value. There comes a point during the creation of things where spending more time improving the creation results in only marginal improvement. Eventually you reach a point where the time you spent making the marginal improvement has cost you more than the value of the improvement itself. And the longer you spend trying to improve your creation, the bigger the opportunity cost of not sharing your creation as it is. If your creation is sitting on a shelf or in folder on your computer, it's not creating any value. 

Now that I'm aware of the cost of seeking perfection, I'm becoming more comfortable with sharing my imperfect ideas and creations with the world. I'm going to spend less time trying to perfect my work and more time getting it out the door and into the hands of others. This post is one example. I wrote it and published it in about 10 minutes. Proof read it once and shared it with the world. 

Predict the Questions

  By Dave Krause | May 2, 2012 - 6:52 pm | Leadership, Personal
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prediction

For a recent meeting, I spent an great deal of time preparing to make a point. I formulated a combination of words that I thought would clearly convey the meaning of my point. I thought my argument was flawless, the logic crystal clear.  I thought I had the perfect combination of phrases that would give me exactly the result I expected. The delivery would be perfect.

The delivery was perfect, so I thought. But then I was asked a question that I hadn't anticipated. It wasn't even a direct challenge to my point. It was a question of clarification. 

It threw me off my game. My mind started to race. My composure left me. I searched for the right answer. I rushed to give an answer. In hindsight it wasn't my best. I learned an important lesson from this experience:

Predict the Questions 

When you have the time to prepare to make a persuasive argument, be sure to anticipate in advance the questions that will come your way. They may not even be challenges. They may be questions of clarification. Preparing to answer those questions is as important as preparing for the argument you will make. If you make a great argument, but can't answer the questions that follow it, you didn't make a great argument.

I am an Artist

  By Dave Krause | April 24, 2012 - 7:59 pm | Leadership, Personal
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Art

I am an artist at work.

Like an artist I create things. I explore indirect ways to solve problems and take on the risk and accountability of making things happen. Like a painter I'm not afraid of making mistakes. Misdrawn lines can be painted over. If  I fail there are plenty of blank canvases on which I can paint.  Like a sculptor I imagine. I seek to understand the structure of the world for what it is and conjure what it can be. Like a writer I'm willing to describe a vision for others to see. I put myself directly in the line of critics. And like a musician I am passionate about what I do. The tempo and tone of my work is infused with emotion. 

Yes, I am an artist. Are you?

Avoiding the Negativity Trap

  By Dave Krause | April 18, 2012 - 7:04 pm | Personal
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After a long day of work have you ever felt the need to unload the challenges, frustrations, or bad news of your day on your spouse, significant other, or room mate? I think we all share this feeling from time to time. Everyone needs an outlet for catharsis. Sharing these things with others is necessary and healthy to a certain extent. But be careful of falling into a cyclical pattern of sharing complaints and negativity.

Recently I learned of a new technique that injects positivity into the conversation. My wife and I share the three best things that happened at work every day. I think about these things on the way home from work and then share them with my wife when I walk through the door. I ask her to tell me three great things that happened to her during the day. We’ve kept this pattern up over the last two months. I find that more often we’re bringing home the good news from work, and it makes for a positive start to our evening.

Lessons Learned | Round 1

  By Dave Krause | April 1, 2012 - 4:53 pm | Leadership, Personal
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lessons-learned

In January I comitted to using Evernote as my primary note-taking tool. One of my favorite entries is a running lists of lessons learned. I mentioned this list in an earlier post on ethics, and decided to share some of my favorite lessons learned that I've documented so far. Each of these are lessons learned that I wrote down after a specific event. I associate each of these lessons with an experience I've had over the last few months, which helps to engrain them in my mind.

  • Time savings measures can create more complexity than what they are worth
  • Don't take someone's word unless you absolutely trust them. Trust is built on precedent
  • Don't give anyone your absolute word unless it is based on verified facts you possess
  • Have a 10 second and 30 second elevator speech about yourself memorized and ready at all times
  • Thank others as a habit because you never know when you will need their help again
  • Be careful when being critical of others. The person you're speaking to may have an interest in the other party.
  • Know who you're working with - Who they work for, what they're responsible for, their influence on others
  • The introduction is the most important part of public speaking – it makes and breaks speeches

The Most Important Agenda Item for a Kick-off Meeting

  By Dave Krause | March 17, 2012 - 4:31 pm | Collaboration, Leadership, Personal
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virtual-team

In the project management world, many professionals would state that the most important elements of a kick-off meeting are definition of project objectives, milestones, risks, and roles. I disagree.

The most important element are personal introductions. A personal introduction is different from a professional introduction. A personal introduction is made up of personal information. I require each team member to share some personal information about themselves at the kick-off meetings.