Are you Good or are you There?

I heard at a National Speakers Association of Australia meeting that there is a difference between being Good and being There.  (Sorry I can’t recall who said it!)
Basically what they said was, are you rewriting, practicing, polishing, learning, waiting, refining until what you are doing is really good or are you just getting it out there?
The Pareto principle tells us that it will take 20% if the effort to get us to 80% of the result we are after.  Can you afford the next 80% of the effort?


I know there are some of you saying, “Yeah, but you would want your surgeon to get it 100% right!!”  I agree.  There are some professions and situations you would want the 100% effort and result.  My point for you is, does it have to be perfect?  With what you are working on at work or at home, are you in one of those “has to be 100%” jobs?  Do you have to have it “just right” before you release it?  Can you get the majority of your results by getting it or yourself out there?  It may not be perfect, but I am sure it is damn good!!


At a recent Trade Show is Los Vegas, an exhibitor had this very problem.  His stand didn’t arrive and wouldn’t until half way through the show. To avoid being fined by the organiser for an empty booth, he did what he could.  He built one out of other people’s scraps.  The result was so good, when the “real” stand arrived, he left it out the back.  What he did wasn’t perfect.  It probably breached corporate brand guidelines, it hadn’t been tested, he didn’t know the best message to send but it worked.  It wasn’t Good but it was There.  You can read the Exhibitor article here (it is worth the read!) 


What are you delaying on because you want it to be Good?  Maybe you could just get it There?




Image: Flickr Matt N Johnson