Perfect is the Enemy of Good
QUOTE
Steve Jobs once said…
“Real artists ship.”
(American businessman)
CONCEPT
Perfect is the Enemy of Good
“Perfect is the enemy of good” is a principle warning against the paralysis of perfectionism. It reminds us that striving endlessly for an ideal can prevent us from achieving what is good, useful, or necessary.
Often attributed to Voltaire, the phrase is about trade-offs: waiting until something is flawless can lead to missed opportunities, delayed progress, or even failure to launch.
In design, writing, business, and life, the pursuit of perfection often kills momentum. The good—while imperfect—is what moves the world forward. This concept champions action, iteration, and impact over unattainable ideals.
STORY
Good Enough … Is Great?
In 1999, a small team at Google nearly delayed the launch of a product that would change how the world accessed information—all because it wasn’t quite perfect.
That product was Google Search, and its defining feature wasn’t its algorithm—brilliant though it was—but its minimalist homepage. Just a clean logo, a search box, and two buttons. No banners, no portals, no ads.
But that simple design? It nearly didn’t happen.
At the time, the internet was chaotic. Yahoo, AltaVista, and Lycos flooded their homepages with headlines, stock tickers, weather, and ads. Google’s sparse layout seemed almost empty by comparison. Inside the company, some executives and engineers worried: Would users think something was broken? Shouldn’t they at least add a “how to use this” link?
Designers debated for weeks. There were arguments about branding, instructions, even background colors. Some pushed for animations or tutorials to make the page feel more complete.
But co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin held the line. They knew speed was everything. A faster load time meant better user experience—especially on slow connections. A simpler page meant less distraction. Even if it looked “unfinished” to some, it worked. It was good. Really good.
So they shipped it as-is.
And users didn’t care that it wasn’t perfect. They cared that it found what they needed—in milliseconds.
The minimalist design, once questioned, became iconic. It defined the brand. It helped Google become the default gateway to the internet. As of 2025, that simple homepage is seen by over 8.5 billion users every day, and it’s been translated into more than 150 languages.
The irony? Even Google’s famous algorithm was still in progress at launch. The team kept improving it after release, through feedback, data, and iteration. But if they’d waited until everything was flawless—perfect results, perfect layout, perfect perception—they might have been overtaken by someone faster and less precious.
By resisting the lure of polishing endlessly, the team focused on utility, speed, and user value. They understood that a good product today beats a perfect one tomorrow—especially in a fast-moving world.