imperfection by design: ship better, ship now
func Ship(code string) string {
if goodEnough(code) {
return deploy(code)
}
return overthink(code) // don't do this
}
perfection is a trap.
it whispers sweet promises while stealing your time. endless tweaks. endless second-guessing. endless delays. and for what? a slightly better shade of blue? another unit test? stop it.
think about startups. the ones obsessed with perfect never launch. the ones who ship “good enough” own the market. they move. they learn. they win.
here’s the engineer’s dilemma: our brains love precision. that’s great for solving problems. terrible for shipping products. we obsess over perfect code while competitors grab real users.
graph TD
A[Perfect] --> B[Never Ships]
C[Good Enough] --> D[Ships Fast]
D --> E[Real Feedback]
E --> F[Actually Better]
style F fill:#f96,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
the hack? perfect your imperfection. make it a skill. once your brain realizes that strategic imperfection is the goal, everything changes. you’re still optimizing - just for outcomes, not perfection.
the pareto principle isn’t just math - it’s liberation. 80% of value comes from 20% of work. spot that 20%. ship it. move on.
perfect code never runs. shipped code changes lives.
zoom out. ask yourself: will anyone notice that extra polish? will it change the outcome? if not, deploy that shit and start the next thing.
perfect isn’t a destination. it’s a distraction.
