Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
I’ve been collaborating with Mike Wood on the design of the 2010 Trading Card design. I had thrown out the request for brilliance for a trading card design a while back on the blog, but the resounding silence that echoed in my inbox after that plea went out suggested that the job might get done more quickly were I to tackle it myself… I started plugging away on things and when I got a tentative-ish layout together I sent it out to a few folks… Mike responded almost immediately with ideas an feedback and I started to make tweaks and slowly massage things towards where I’ll hand over the finished design to the printer and get them to set things up for the annual run. This process has been going on for about a month and yesterday I got an email from Mike with the following –
The back is really shaping up, and I think we’ve approached (or perhaps just breached) David Aiken’s Ninety-Five Percent Perfection (DANFPP).
It made me laugh and re-affirmed a couple of things to me.
#1 – I am indeed a perfectionist. I’ve known this for years, but the pursuit of perfection can at times hold me back because quite often more can be gained by setting a goal and a dead-line. Do your very best given the deadline, but then let go of the pursuit of perfection and let the project go so that it doesn’t become all consuming and never ending.
The best example I can give of this comes from my parents. Both went to the University of Minnesota to upgrade their educations and both set about getting their PHD’s. My Dad, the perfectionist (that’s likely where I get it from) never finished because he wasn’t able to submit work that he felt was less than perfect. My mom set herself a deadline, did the very best in the time she was given and then handed the thing in once the deadline was reached. She knew that it wasn’t ‘Perfect’ but she also knew that she wanted to finish, and this seemed like the best way to do it.
#2 – Mike Wood ‘gets’ it. He understands some of my specific idiosyncrasies and not only does he draw them to my attention, but he does so with humour. This allows me to recognize the point he’s making and have a good laugh about it. In my experience his is a far more effective way of communicating than to take a critical observations and make it sound like a dig or put down. Nine times out of ten the individual receiving the feedback is well aware of what’s being pointed out, but even if they’re not, you’ll likely get a warmer reception to the comments if you spice them liberally with comedy.
I have to admit to being a Fan of Mike’s comedy anyway, and for those who’d like to check out some of his humours writings you should visit his website and head over to the ‘Gallery’ and read his Funny Writings. I’d also suggest following him on Twitter as he’s set the task for himself of being funny once a day and Tweeting it to the world… He’s had some really funny one! This likely being my favourite to date –
Living with a girl, you think it’s “our house” until you realize you don’t know where anything is. Then you know you’re basically a pet.
It’s funny ’cause it’s true.
