Ship it: Why perfectionism slows down experts

In software development, there's an expression for when you release something even though it's not yet perfect: "Ship it." Get it out there. Make it available. Even if not every detail is right yet.

I am writing this article because I have been observing for years how good people with real expertise remain invisible. Not because they lack something, but because they don't think it's enough yet. The extension isn't clean enough yet. The YouTube channel isn't planned through enough. Their own training is not yet complete enough.

If you recognize yourself in this, this article is for you.

The problem is not quality. It's called fear.

I see this all the time in the TYPO3 community. And even beyond.

An example: Someone wanted to start a YouTube channel. The topic: programming and development. The person was an expert in the field, no question. But everything had to be perfect first. The recording technology. The editing. The structure. The result: not a single video. Ever. As far as I know, the project has since fallen asleep.

Another example: someone actually started, after a strong push from outside. A few videos came out. And then? Silence. The whole thing fell asleep again. Whether the response wasn't right, the effort was too great or other things got in the way, I don't know.

But it shows: Starting alone is not enough. You also have to have your expectations of yourself under control.

My own story with "good enough"

I have always unconsciously lived by the motto "Better done than perfect". Perfectionism has never been a blocker for me.

Does that mean that my work was always perfect? Quite the opposite.

When I look at my very old videos today, there is a world of difference between then and now. Visual quality, sound quality, didactics. Sometimes I'm almost embarrassed by what I produced back then.

But it worked.

The demand was there. People liked it, probably also because there was nothing else like it. And the videos have continuously improved over the years. Precisely because they were out there. Precisely because I got feedback. Precisely because I didn't wait until everything was perfect.

Perfectionism is also an economic issue

I know the discussions in the TYPO3 world well: How perfect does the code really have to be? How much time do you invest in perfection? And above all: does the customer even have the budget for it?

Perfectionism costs time. Time that you often don't have. And time that the customer doesn't pay for.

This does not mean that you should work sloppily. It does mean that you have to develop realistic expectations of your own work.

A typical scenario: a project is 80 percent complete. The site works, the content is in place, the customer can work with it. But you still see things that you want to improve. The template structure could be cleaner. The TypoScript could be solved more elegantly. The performance could be a few milliseconds faster.

So you invest more hours. Maybe days. For the last 20 percent, which often costs more effort than the first 80. And the customer? Doesn't notice a thing. They want the site to work.

Between "good" and "perfect" there is often a huge amount of effort that makes no noticeable difference to the customer. But a noticeable difference for your account.

"I'm not quite there yet"

Simon Liekam, IT freelancer coach with over 20 years of experience, recently made a point on LinkedIn that got me thinking: Most IT freelancers don't fail because of clients. They fail because of the phrase "I'm not ready yet."

That's not a skills problem. It's an identity problem.

And I see the same patterns in the TYPO3 world. "I'll look at this when the current project is finished." "I'll learn that when I have more time." These are sentences I hear regularly.

And the time never comes.

Whether someone doesn't publish their extension, doesn't start their YouTube channel or puts off further training, it's essentially the same pattern. You wait for the perfect moment. And it doesn't exist.

Your good is the perfect of others

I once picked up a saying that sums it up for me:

"Your good is other people's perfect."

Things that we perceive as "just okay" or "good" may already be perfect for others. Because they don't have our knowledge. Because they don't know our expectations. And because our product or service solves exactly their problem.

Even if it is not perfect from our point of view.

It is perfect for the customer because it solves their problem.

Nothing will ever be perfect

There will always be room for improvement. There will always be things that can be improved. It's the same for me: there are many points with which I'm not 100 percent satisfied. But that will never change, no matter what I do.

The question is not whether your product, your code or your content is perfect.

The question is whether you can help someone with it.

If so, ship it.