Good Enough to Execute
  I have been waiting for my kids blogs to be “perfect” or at least “better” before I really promoted them. Last night as I was laying in bed I realized that they were in fact more than “Good Enough” or as we used to say in the rangers… “Good to GO”.
An old CEO of mine and dear friend, was fond of saying, actually paraphrasing, General Patton with these words. ” A Good plan executed violently, is better than a perfect plan that is executed too late, or poorly executed.”
He didn’t want to see the senior management team sitting around until we had the ”perfect plan”… but instead to trust our instincts. When we knew we had a “Good” idea/plan to “Get Moving” and “get it done” .
In the extreme passion and enthusiasm of our execution we would do more ensure the success of achieving our desired results. So much the better if the “Good” plan continued to evolve and grow during implementation… we should all be doing that. But to sit around and discuss the issue in a series of meetings, in the vain hope of removing all risk while the
“enemy” was on the move was folly.Â
So if your plan is “Good Enough”… Execute it Violently or if you prefer….”With Passion!”
 With regard to my children’s websites…. they are wonderful, inspiring and are focused on the celebration of what’s good in the world, or at least in their world. I am inspired by much of what they have written and believe that you and even your kids will be too. As good as they are now - I know that they will get even better. Heck they already have improved so much in the month they have been doing it. I invite you visit one or each of their for blogs at the following URL’s.
1 Thing i Love http://1thingilove.wordpress.com/ - this is their favorite blog where they talk about 1 thing they love
Human Becomings - http://humanbecomings.wordpress.com/ - celebrating the power of growth and learning
Quotes My Kids Like - http://quotesmykidslike.wordpress.com/ find a quote you like and tell why you like it
Dates With Dad - http://dateswithdad.wordpress.com/ promoting the power of one on one time with parents and kids.
If you do have a chance to visit these sites… I ask that you would leave a comment for them… they would love that.
Thank you and …
Kirk Out
July 1st, 2009 at 10:54 am
Kirk,
As I read the T4D about wanting your kids blog to be perfect (or at least better) before publishing it, I was reminded of an old Native American saying “The way to cross a river is to cross it”. Too often in our lives we dream to “become” something rather than “be” something. I’m glad you went ahead and posted their blogs. Their writings demonstrate their own humor, insight, creativity and wisdom that none of us would get to enjoy if we had to wait for perfection. Thanks for allowing them to cross the river.
Tim out.
July 1st, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Hi Kirk,
Your Patton quote reminds me of another military man’s quote - Gen. Colin Powell - that I paraphrase in a class I facilitate. In a discussion centered around analytical and intuitive styles, I bring in Gen. Powell’s observation that when you have 70% of the facts you need to make a decision, make the decision. If you wait for 80, 90 or 100%, you’ll miss you’re best window of opportunity.
I like this advice, but being the analytical person that I am, I’m having trouble applying it — I’m still trying to figure out how to know when I’m *right at* 70%!
Thanks! - Jim
July 1st, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Kirk, I found your thoughts today very apt and very true and I love the ways you are teaching your kids to use technology in a good way. I reckon if I was a kid again, in fact I think I still am, I think you would be a great Dad to have.
Your CEO friend/General Patton’s comments about taking action before things are perfect have been part of the reason I believe I have enjoyed the success I have. It hasn’t been a perfect ride, but it has been a ride and I’ve achieved more by getting in the car before all the lights were green than if I had have waited – particularly hard for a ‘learning to be less of a perfectionist’, or better put, ‘learning to proceed with passion and don’t sweat the small stuff’.
The 80% rule is a good rule. Get the 80% right and the 20% usually takes care of itself.
In fact, if I may go on - and I may, this is my post after all - you sent a thought back in July of 2007 that I still have saved as it was around the time I left my ’safe’ ‘little challenge’ job and trusted in my instincts that I could violently and passionately build a business. I have not looked back, this last financial year just finished, we have doubled our turnover from the previous year and do you know what - the thought you sent back then was part of the process that made me decide it was time to leap off the cliff and hope I would learn how to use these little babies attached to my shoulders to fly. Here is the quote from that day.
Many risks fail because they were not taken in time. Too many risks are postponed until unnecessarily elaborate preparations are made. This does not mean that one should say, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” That is foolish and self-destructive…But don’t sit back waiting for the perfect moment. It almost never comes. - David Viscott
Keep doing your thing Kirk, you change lives.