Fast Company: In 2010, a small California-based company opened its doors for business. They didn’t have much capital but, with a staff of only four, they did have a singular vision--to outdo Kodak. Even through the rosiest of glasses, this would not appear a feasible proposition. It’s a scenario that makes David versus Goliath look like a fair fight. But 18 months later, the company of four, which had become a company of 13, was sold to Facebook for $1 billion.
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Ideas are definitely easier than follow through an implementation. Stories like this are common, but it should be noted that this won't necessarily work in other markets. The barriers to entry are pretty low for internet-based companies. The potential reward, in my opinion, outweighs the risk and the costs by a lot. But I don't think this would be the case with more material goods. If you have a great 'idea' for something tangible, that requires construction and mass production and a lot of red tape, the chances of being such an early success are probably much smaller.
Regardless, the message of the article stays intact. Ideas are good, but determination and motivation, the courage to take risks, and a lot of work are necessary to make an idea a success.
I think that I was originally a little confused by the slogan throughout the article, "done is better than being perfect". It would seems niwadays that getting a job or assignment done is about as far as we, as workers, will go. I think that there isn't a lot of editing and going back to perfect the outcome of a project like we see in the examples that the article provides. This is funny because some of those corporations life Facebook or Kodak take the time to perfect the product and make sure that nothing else is like it and nothing really is.
What is a little disheartening is the way that things like instant ram take a fairly simple idea and it is immediately sent out into the world for the consumer. What is worse is that the consumer eats it up and becomes obsessed with a product that hasn't even reached its full potential. In some ways, I can see how this is a good thing because it challenges the consumer to come up with something better. At the same time, will products or technology continue hit us at a base level with only so much imagination added to it. More importantly, will we still, as consumers, still buy into all of this or do we have a limit to what we buy?
Without context, the slogan "Does it better than perfect," can be taken a lot of ways. It can be taken to mean that perfection doesn't exist, or that it's okay to just get something done and not work to make it the best it can be. In this context, though, it means that a product doesn't have to start out being perfect, especially if it is based on a great idea. I never spent much time thinking about how fast-paced and cut-throat competition is in the technological industry,but this article makes it clear why acting fast is important. (Poor MySpace.) Skype's model is awesome- they truly have a great idea if they can "sell" it that well without advertising at all. People will spread the word on their own if something is that simple- and that great. All of these slogans can be useful, if applied properly, to everyday life. I think we can all take a page out of Facebook's book and bring our ideas to fruition every once in a while, even if they aren't perfect. Every successful product has to start somewhere, right?
I believe that the motto "Done is better than perfect" can apply pretty well to internet or technology-based companies where the latest and greatest functional product becomes very successful, even if it isn't completely debugged. A large company has enough cushion to continue pushing the product forward after launch -including a loyal customer base- that keeps the product alive. This doesn't usually apply to individuals, whether it be a personal project or personal business venture, as customers (or teachers and bosses) can't necessarily always take "done" as a measure of completion.
"Done is better than perfect" is a dangerous slogan, at best. That's great, cite Facebook and Instagram and Angry Birds but let's not forget Friendster, Pets.com, NetZero, and KaZaa. All of those internet companies were at one time hot and likely had similar mottoes as "Done is better than perfect." The only difference? Fate wasn't as kind to those companies.
It's easy, I think, to ascribe a single theme or motto or business model to a company's success but more often than not, I think it's a multitude of factors - most likely of which is just dumb luck - that can save or slaughter a company.
"Done is better then perfect" actually makes no sense. If someone is striving for perfection, they will never be done, which, of course, is rarely useful. However, with most of the technology based companies and products the article sites, done is really a fallacy. With technology's current pace of innovation, no product is ever really done. There are always improvements that are not only possible, but are being actively worked on. There are just different versions available. I don't buy into the slogan at all.
I cannot think of another article that is so applicable to theatre and film/television. Living fast paced enables people to spit out ideas at record speeds and run with them, letting them grow and develop, but it is never a good idea to sit on something for too long. Ideas tend to become stale when people do this. It is so invigorating and inspiring to see all of these new companies coming up with such dynamite ways to lead and function. I think "Done is better than perfect" is a great slogan because it buys into the idea that perfectionism kills, and that perfectionism is what can cause a company to work too long and hard on a project that could have been developed in a third amount of time and be released as more fresh and relevant than waiting to work on it longer and then releasing it. This does not mean going with your first idea: it just means get a product out their simply and efficiently and don't stress about whether or not it is perfect.
This article makes a strong argument, but I'm sure that I could find hundreds of counter examples for every company the author brings up that made it big to spite all odds due to creative thinking and a get it done mindset.
At the same time I think that it's important to incorporate the "Done not perfect" way of thinking in to day to day life. In my college classes I have had a lot more hands on projects in smaller amounts of time than I did in high school. One of the biggest challenges this has caused me to face is choosing an idea and starting on it fast. I tend to want to spend lots of time finding the perfect idea, but that wastes time and then I don't get anything made.
This is the same concept that the companies in the article are using to become hugely suspenseful.
So although I'm not sure if this is a 100% win I still think that I can incorporate the "done not perfect" mindset in to my life.
There has been a phrase that I have heard around the theatre that goes. “The show is never finished, it just closes.” In the theatre we work under unusually immutable deadlines. Sure we always strive for perfection but when you open in two weeks, perfection is unobtainable. You just want something good. People and business that develop other products work with a different set of guidelines. If the house is not finished you can pus the clients another month. It the recipe is not perfect you fix it before you sell it to Betty Crocker. Here we strive for perfection as fast as we can, but it is almost never attainable. I am not sure if software companies feel the same way about their products
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