Insight, not perfection

I have struggled with perfection. Perfectionist. If you’ve been called that, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, you’ll have to forgive the rest of us. I came across a post recently that has inspired me to be better about publishing to this blog more consistently. Richard Byrne is such a blogger. One who strives to get the word out. Here is a post from his newly launched blog on — what else? — blogging: http://wormsinthefridge.com/2014/01/12/dont-let-perfect-enemy-good/ In his post, he discusses the problem of trying to be perfect and putting off publishing something until it is. This stems the flow of information and thought. I agree. If your English (or other language) isn’t perfect, that’s okay. I am in the camp of “What if the idea isn’t as good as it could be?” I need to realize that I can edit the post to correct mistakes, reform ideas, and do general editing.

With that said, this goes for more than just writing. We can apply this thinking to podcasts, vodcasts, etc. I tell faculty this when we discuss creating screencasts for tutorials, flipping, or anything else. Perfecting the video isn’t necessary. Often there isn’t time to get it just right, and students don’t usually care if it is or not. In fact, I have talked with students who appreciate little imperfections. It seems to make the product more genuine. If something goes wrong, that can serve to jolt the student back into focusing on what you’re saying. It keeps you and them on your toes.

Thank you, Mr. Byrne, for helping to steer us in the right direction. We need to share insight, not perfection.