Perfect conditions are an unhealthy myth

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People go very far so that nothing disturbs, distracts or interferes with them in any way. In doing so, they eliminated any chance of creative friction. And that harms the product.

Losing weight, investing money, writing a letter, bookkeeping, having a child, quitting your job, demanding more salary, further training or long-distance travel, addressing injustice in the household and whatever is happening or not happening to you: the ideal moment will be do not come. Sorry

And in the meantime, nothing happens.

Finding perfect conditions is like chasing the end of the rainbow. We never get any closer to him and at some point he is completely gone.

And how do I even create perfect conditions for a large project? I could write a listicle on this question, but there is a problem: it would never be finished. The first problem with perfection is that it keeps pushing its own bar. This is exactly what the ideal conditions for a big project are like: perfection can exist in a moment, for a brief moment in which life stands still a little. But then it goes on again and the phone rings and the parcel carrier is in front of the door and yesterday’s customer needs something very briefly, should be done in four or five hours. Then life flows on, pulling everyone involved with it and undermining the perfect conditions.

Even on a small scale, the perfect conditions do not work.

The pursuit of perfect conditions has two goals:

1. Don’t have to start yet. Those who strive for perfect starting conditions postpone the actual work. Put nicely: delay tactics. To be honest: a waste of time. Behind this is the fear of not being good enough.
2. Secure your own performance. The result should be great, at least. Behind this is the fear of falling short of your own possibilities.

People get stuck in thinking instead of doing what they want to do. Emotionally, it’s easier to wait for the perfect moment than to get started. That is self-protection – only then nothing happens.

For large projects, the desire for ideal conditions is ultimately hopeless. I once wanted to write a book and instead lay sick on the sofa for a summer – it worked too. One morning a friend of mine toured the construction site of her house, thought about the loan installments on the way back, and lost her job an hour later. She now lives in this house and has an office for her first own company. A friend was planning a new product for her company when two family members were in need of intensive care shortly after one another. The product doesn’t exist yet. But it will come.

Of course none of these are nice stories. But no tree has grown strong in the bright sunlight. It is shade and storm, drought and cold that stimulate a tree to grow. And that let it survive.

Perfect conditions should enable smooth processes. Or at least probably do. Perhaps it will even work – but nothing would be gained from it. Because none of us do our job for a perfect world. I’m not writing this article because everything is going so well out there for you. Basically, I can be glad that you took the time to read it at all.

Actually, I don’t write any of my articles about modern work because it was going great somewhere. It’s not going well for me either. My desk is occupied, my back hurts, I’m hungry and I would like to remodel my office, but the damn corner extension has not been available for weeks and it doesn’t make sense without it.

All crap.

But it’s all kind of inspiring.

I am writing this text because so many of us are trying to create good conditions and then something comes up again. You are out there doing your job because the world and life and anything else could still be a little better.

And as humans we have to deal with it. The expectation of the perfect moment is too high. The ideal of perfection effeminates. It fuels a hope that must be disappointed. Life means coping with resistance. That costs energy, but it also makes us stronger, smarter and more creative. I really like planning things, but good improvisation will beat any plan in practice. Plans are deadwood. Improvisation is life.

It is the friction of everyday life that makes good work possible. People get good when challenged. Not overwhelmed, that’s not the point. But people have always overcome obstacles if they want to achieve something. Make a fire, fly, design websites, book a flight or a vaccination appointment. It’s not that easy. And our products, our services and all of our ideas must do justice to this fact.

And sometimes I also wish that life was easier. I even like to create good conditions for myself: I tidy my desk, communicate times of unavailability and plan my assignments in such a way that there is time for creativity. But that’s enough. The search for perfection expresses the fear of taking the first step. But none of us gets anywhere like that. Perfect conditions make work and cost time. We have nothing to gain from it.

It is the obstacles of everyday life that force us to become good at solving problems. This ability carries us through life. Problems are part of our history, just like our solutions are. And yes, sometimes these solutions are improvised. This ability needs to be preserved, we will still need it. In a world of perfect conditions, we would all have nothing to do. And then again that would not be correct.