Point of diminishing returns

I would like to spend this week's post on what I started calling as "point of diminishing returns". 

I was more of a purist growing up - one who wanted to do the absolute right thing in the absolute right way all the time every time.  But as I started experiencing the world, I shifted more towards the practical/pragmatic side of the spectrum. I realized that getting the job done is really more important than trying to do it the absolute right way, this is not to be misunderstood as giving up on core values and doing anything to get the job done. 

I started thinking through this little further and spoke to few people I have utmost respect for and realized why my fundamental instincts have actually changed.  I believe it is because if we try to stick to doing every thing perfect, we are actually leaving money on the table.  For example, let's discuss just this blog post.  My goal is to spend 15-30 minutes of my weekend on some creative writing exercise which gets my thoughts going, helps in expressing myself better, and share my thoughts with few others that may benefit from them or may start an intellectual dialogue.  With that being the goal, if I really wanted to be perfect with forming my thoughts, constructing perfect passages, using the best vocabulary possible, and be 100% grammatically correct, it could easily take up to an hour or more.  On the other hand, if I put in a decent effort and still get my thoughts down in my desired goal of 15-30 minutes, I am getting the job done albeit it may not be 100% perfect.  I could spend that extra 30 minutes that I would have otherwise spent on the blog trying to be perfect on something else that could generate more value.

Translating that thought process to business scenario, there are many instances where people/businesses spend enormous amount of time trying to get to a perfect solution and in the course of it burn too many resources than getting it just right to a point where it will deliver most of the value.  After certain point, where the solution reaches 80 to 90%, it should be released to market and value should be realized.  That point where almost 100% of the value can be realized without churning too much on the last minute effort is the "point of diminishing returns".  There is also a latest buzz word in the market place for this - "80% solution". While few purists may get outraged hearing that the solution being implemented is a 80% solution, it is upon the pragmatists to explain the value proposition from less than perfect solutions. 

Comments?