Posts for Mess

Done is better than perfect

Quote - Joe Campbell - October 2, 2017

Another one of my favorite posters at Facebook declares in big red letters, “Done is better than perfect.” I have tried to embrace this motto and let go of unattainable standards. Aiming for perfection causes frustration at best and paralysis at worst. I agree completely with the advice offered by Nora Ephron in her Wellesley commencement speech when she addressed the issue of women having both a career and family. Ephron insisted, “It will be a little messy, but embrace the mess. It will be complicated, but rejoice in the complications. It will not be anything like what you think it will be like, but surprises are good for you. And don’t be frightened: you can always change your mind. I know: I’ve had four careers and three husbands.

Sheryl Sandberg in Lean In on page 125.

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The fine balance between structure and mess

Quote - Joe Campbell - September 21, 2017

Lindsey Collins & Andrew Stanton

“I’m a firm believer in the chaotic nature of the creative process needing to be chaotic. If we put too much structure on it, we will kill it. So there’s a fine balance between providing some structure and safety—financial and emotional—but also letting it get messy and stay messy for a while. To do that, you need to assess each situation to see what’s called for. And then you need to become what’s called for.”

Lindsay Collins as quoted in Ed Catmull’s absolutely excellent Creativity Inc.: Building an Inventive Organization (Kindle Locations 3534-3538). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Incidentally, the definition of good project management I’ve always given to people who I’ve worked with is almost exactly her conclusion:

[Y]ou need to assess each situation to see what’s called for. And then you need to become what’s called for.

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