Not Ninety-Five Percent

The earliest and certainly one of the most memorable lessons I was taught was to never stop at 95%. Not for the obvious reason that 5% was left on the table. No, because when I presumably reach the end of my action item list, and then let my work product rest, I invariably think of yet another element I can address to improve it. So the last 5% is a precursor to going beyond what I think necessary and therefore constitutes much more than 5% in terms of the polish, professionalism and sense of completeness conferred on the final product. It’s the defining difference that sets my work product apart from the competition, and which gives me the best chance of leveraging any given opportunity to its maximum effect. Let’s never leave anything on the table. Even when we’re tired and think we can’t do anymore. We don’t tend to remember the pain; only the gain.