Why Good is Not the Enemy of Great for Creators on a Deadline

Is good the enemy of great? I don’t think so. I think ‘good’ is the only road to this fabled ‘great’.

The original aphorism reckons that by allowing ‘good’ to exist ‘great’ cannot. Fair enough. But whenever I hear it, it inadvertently stifles my work before it’s out of the gate and mires it in a stultifying perfectionism! Gah.

By allowing ‘good’ to exist along the way to ‘great’, we encourage freedom, play, and experimentation. We take the pressure off, which is only ever a good thing.

For anyone who has to make, invent, create or conjure – with the time pressure of a deadline – this is for you.

Think instead…

Good is ‘it works’.

Good is a stepping stone to ‘great’.

But first, we must start

Put one note after another; put one word after another. One brush stroke, one chisel chip, one ingredient followed by the next. Getting from zero-to-good-to-great requires action.

Do something; it doesn’t matter what. Struggling with the blank page? Here are 3 posts that are guaranteed to get you generating ideas:

Now, we make it work

Refer to your purpose. Does what you’ve done fulfil this purpose, at its most basic level? If it does, hurray! If not, why not? Does it need more? Does it need less? Does it make sense?

Then we make it good

Check transitions, start and finish. Make it whole – with a beginning, middle, and end. Make it more of whatever its purpose is – more serious, more fun, more atonal, more smooth, more surprising, more compassionate, more angry…

Now, we can step back. Look with fresh eyes and strip away anything non-essential

Take a break of any length, even just a breath; or sleep on it. Return and ask: are there any redundancies? Are you repeating yourself? Are there areas of ambiguity where there should be clarity and definition (or vice versa)?

Then… we (attempt to) make it great! (no pressure lol)

Hah! I can’t tell you how to make it great. Sorry about that. Perhaps it relies on your unique voice? Or on interaction with your collaborators, or further research and experimentation? ‘Great’ transcends the functional creativity of craft and raises a work into art.

Or maybe you might start again from scratch with the knowledge and experience gained from the process thus far. Keep this old work though. You never know when it might become useful, in the future.

Next time little ol’ perfectionism rears its head and proclaims that good isn’t good enough and great is the only acceptable outcome, pause and acknowledge it. Thank it for its input. Then kindly remind it that rather than being the enemy of great, good is the only stepping stone to whatever ‘great’ might be.

Photo: Credit

Why Good is Not the Enemy of Great (for Innovators, Creators and Artists on a Deadline)