5% Perfectionism
No matter how “small” your job is, do it well. Drive your work with edge cases in mind.
95% of the time, things will go as expected. You’ll operate as expected. You’ll perform on par with expectations. And as a result, you’ll succeed as expected. But what happens in that ominous 5%? How do you set yourself apart in the eyes of others and reach the hidden bar of success that lies unknown and beyond conventional metrics?
It’s that 5% that makes all the difference in being there for your customer and having them realize the importance of your existence as an entity. It’s your perfectionism that drives this 5%, and it’s your perfectionism that will make the customer want to come back to you.
Here’s a few case studies from everyday occurrences that can be tied to this idea…
I love the public bus system. I take it every day and 95% of the time there’s no hiccups. Recently, I had an issue with the bus I normally take to work running early. Not thinking much of it at first, I decided to send in my concerns: “[redacted] has consistently left a full 3 minutes earlier than his scheduled departure. This has happened for the last 2 days from the bus stop at [redacted]. As much as I appreciate punctuality, I count on the buses to run as per their pre-determined schedule, and this unfair practice has left me to arrive late to my work meetings this week since the next departing bus is 15 minutes later.”
Yes, this issue seems trivial. It could be resolved by my adjusting to leave the house a little earlier to get to the bus stop on time. But I saw this incident as an opportunity to exercise the use of Customer Feedback (and unknowingly as an opportunity to test 5% perfectionism!) To my surprise, I received the following response: “ I assure you that [redacted] strives to provide reliable, on-time service to its customers. We train and expect all transit operators to adhere to their posted schedule. While late operation may result from conditions beyond our control, there is no excuse for early operations. In response to this incident, staff documented your comments and routed a report to the operator’s supervisor for review and action.”
I was talking to my parents today. My dad had some packages to ship, so he put them on the doorstep and raised the red flag on our mailbox. Usually, the mailman sees this red flag, gets out of his vehicle, and comes to pick up the package so it can be shipped from the post office. 95% of the time my dad has done this process, the packages were picked up and shipped in a timely manner. This morning, however, he had an important package that needed to be shipped out. The mailman drove by without picking the package up. I’ll stop there, but you can probably picture the anger & disappointment on my dad’s face.
I love YouTube, and there are several creators that I watch regularly. The most successful creators on the platform, everyone from Casey Neistat, First We Feast, to Logan Paul, preach consistency as being the key factor behind their success. When there are millions of videos being uploaded every day, what drives a viewer to click on these creators’ videos the first thing they come out? 95% of creators pay attention to making videos with high production value and creativity. But beyond this, the most successful creators publish content with a consistency — an upload schedule. The upload schedule is “the 5%” for YouTube creators. Viewers can expect the content they love delivered to their Subscriptions page on a certain day each week.
The consistency notion also means that even when one upload isn’t as great as the last one, the fact that videos are published on a routine basis comforts the viewer and gives them something to look forward to — an improvement for the next upload.
I had to submit a revised draft of a proposal for work this week. I submitted a revised copy thinking I had addressed all the feedback and made the writing 10x better, but in the process I’d forgotten small and seemingly trivial details. When I received comments, I found that these misses were what stood out first to my reviewer. Turns out something as simple as using the preferred file format makes a world of difference. It’s the missing 5%.
A non-personal case study…
Amazon has coined “5% perfectionism” with a similar phrase — last mile delivery. Their obsession with getting more products shipped more places and in less time is what drives consistent revenue growth and increased customer satisfaction. At the same time, it’s also what drives a heightened expectation from consumers for more innovative ideas. And this is where the technology emerges — Amazon Fresh, Amazon Prime Air, the list goes on. A rather beneficial cycle of business, yes?
People don’t look at the 10 things you DID do well — they notice the one thing you didn’t. I encourage you to find examples of “5% perfectionism” in your industry or line of work. You’re only as good as the last greatest thing you did. So strive to make the “5% perfectionism” the last greatest thing.
