“Tailoring Everything”

So says the sign on an alteration shop in my neighborhood. The English isn’t perfect, but that message, taped to the window and costing exactly one sheet of computer paper, is most definitely good enough.

When I first launched my magazine, I fretted over design perfection before reaching out to sponsors. I wasted precious time; sponsors weren’t looking for perfection. The site still needs a redesign two years later, but that didn’t stop me from closing August.

Conversely, I once gave a contributor full access to the site without restricting his ability to publish before the submission was edited and reviewed. That workflow and resulting article wasn’t good enough.

Both of these were valuable lessons, and having a framework for evaluating what is and isn’t good enough frees up cognitive resources to focus on higher order challenges.