A friend of mine shared a thought about the lesson some of us learned in our study of chess. A wise instructor will sometimes use the strategy of making us play without the queen. How frustrating it is to play without such a powerful piece on the board.

However, without relying on the queen and her significant power, we gain appreciation for the capacity, capabilities, and strategic value of our other pieces. Once the queen is re-introduced, we realize that our game has risen to a new level.

May we as leaders make the most of the season as we learn to maximize other resources and strategies. If we can learn to thrive without in person gatherings, then when we finally reintroduce such, imagine our capacity!

A combination of strategies I choose to utilize in my work as a Creative Director is creating algorithms for human intuition to be maximized as I help coach and reveal beauty to enhance story and experience. This is a key part of the "process architecture" that I put in place for our teams to use in our planning process: A series of questions and process guides to begin with as well as a timeline with both back burner space for peace as well as checkpoints and prototyping deadlines that each can yield an "eureka idea" to add to the plan. It’s a magical thing when both both logic and instinct are allowed to team up as part of the creative process.

Know what your "ship" is; know who your "crew" is. Understand what they are capable of. Define a high standard and point in the right direction. Then adapt along the way to maximize what the "wind" offers. It doesn’t even mean changing course; it only means changing tactics. Enjoy the journey. "Sailing" is fun. The stories are treasures.

—William Arthur Ward

Excellence is not to be confused with perfection. Excellence is beautifully imperfect; as it recognizes the continued pursuit of improvement. The iterations will always continue; so make the most of the time and resources we have. Recognize when it’s better to leave one project at good and refocus by encouraging each other and developing another project until it’s time to call that one great. (Even though we have such high standards that we know what we wish we could keep tinkering further...) Then celebrate! Especially after big projects, remember that "We get to be a part of this!" Then next week, begin working on v2.0!

I used to struggle with perfectionism. I remember in high school when I couldn’t understand my best friend who could just rip through homework and turn in something that was barely 80% effort. Instead I wouldn’t turn something in because it wasn’t worthy of what I knew it should be. I’ve come a long way since then. I now can present something if it’s the best I believe it can be with the recourses justifiably allocated. I can reconcile that. It has actually become a core value for me. A Maximizer shall get greatest value out of resources…. I still want for perfection, but I also find beauty in excellent. I can coach that now. I’ve come a long way.

I just read a Forbes article written by Victor Lipman that included five tips for taming perfectionism. I thought I’d share.

A repost originally from 5 years ago:

I was asked for my consult on what other options I could recommend besides truss to hang a banner for an event. This was my reply:

I’m always a fan of pipe-and-base. It certainly takes up less space in a vehicle and is quicker to set up. It’s not a design on its own (you can’t put an LED inside to make it pretty colors) but it certainly is a bang-for-the-buck way to have some banners or whatever have something to tie to…

I know you’re asking about it. I hope to fill in the details of this post soon