Find a second pair of eyes

I love to work on a project with the speed of a thousand horses.

Immersing yourself in the flow and feeling as though you’re effortlessly overcoming any challenge is awesome.

However, on the flip side, there’s that feeling of being stuck.

And by “stuck,” I don’t mean simply not knowing what to do next, but rather sinking into the mud with every attempt to do better.

I have encountered this many times. I recall a specific example years ago, building a dashboard that offered a new way for people to interact with lead data.

Nearing completion led to a nagging feeling that something was wrong.

"Is it the workflow? The visual design? Is there an issue with the code?"

Why isn't it aligning with my vision?

I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. The more I analyzed it, the more frustrated I became. And the deeper my frustration, the more I wished to avoid thinking about it.

Yet, my passion for the project was unwavering. I couldn’t simply abandon it. It was my brainchild.

Determined to address the issue systematically, I painstakingly dissected each component, reducing it to its essentials, then meticulously reconstructed it with minor tweaks I believed would make it what it needed to be.

However, even after that, I felt defeated. It still fell short, and I was no longer proud of my creation because I knew it had greater potential.

The issue was my pursuit of perfection.

I longed for a level of excellence that would surprise even myself.

While I haven’t encountered this perspective elsewhere, I theorize that this element of surprise is the crux of perfectionism.

Eventually, I mustered the courage to show the project to a fellow team member.

"I have this great idea, but I'm struggling to execute it. How should I build this?"

They liked it.

It functioned flawlessly.

There was nothing wrong.

I suffered more in my imagination than in reality.

Had someone else presented me with that project, that dashboard, I undoubtedly would have been impressed. I wouldn’t have scrutinized it for a minute.

Find a second pair of eyes.

We must be cautious not to get lost in the details and consequently lose sight of the bigger picture.

When presenting projects (such as products, sales initiatives, tools, etc.) to others, it’s important to remember that they’re encountering something entirely new.

This is a perspective that’s nearly impossible for us to adopt. Through experience, I’ve realized that cultivating this skill requires training, almost in a meditative manner.

I’ve applied the same principle to creative pursuits, like music and video editing.

Ultimately, it boils down to three choices:

1. Step away for a few days: you’ll be happy with it, or you’ll be sure something was wrong
2. Have someone else be your second pair of eyes
3. Just do it

Yet, I’ve also learned that this same pursuit of perfectionism and attention to detail is what propels people to create extraordinary things.

How I wish I had a second pair of eyes.