Is "Good Enough" really good enough?

I've been listening to the audio version of the Steve Jobsbiography by Walter Isaacson this week. Well, who hasn't actually? It's currently #1 of all books on Amazon.

As I wrote when Mr. Jobs died earlier this month, I'm a big fan of the Apple products and have been for over twenty years. In 1989, I started working for WGBH, the Boston public television station. WGBH is a Mac house. Prior to that, I had worked on PC's and knew a little DOS, but computers were tools, not something to love. By the end of my first week at WGBH, I knew I'd never go back to using my desktop PC - which I think was called a Leading Edge and had been given to me as a kind of severance package from my job at an opera company that had closed.

As an aside, I gave my Dad that PC which brought him into the computer age and by the time he passed away nearly 3 years ago at 83, he ran all of his finances and tracked his investments on Quicken and communicated with high school and college buddies via email. I still have the last email he sent to me, which was about safety precautions for women in parking lots and elevators.

The first Mac I worked on was an SE30 that had a 20MB hard drive (can you imagine?). A single email can't be opened on 20 megs these days! I'm only partway into the book, but have been fascinated, although not surprised, by the attention to detail Jobs paid to every single element of the design of the first Macintosh computer (around 1983). He wanted it to be friendly, simple and elegant. If you notice, it looks a little like a head, complete with chin and forehead. Never noticed before, but it did have me at hello! He was concerned with the color of the plastic (he rejected something like 200, or 2000 Pantone beiges and created his own), the softness of the corners, the ventilation openings that were also decorative. He was concerned with the packaging and rejected fifty versions before saying yes. He frustrated his team and management to no end with so much perfectionism, but he truly believed that to be "insanely great" meant every detail was perfect. He believed in art, was a fan of the Bauhaus movement and the furniture of Charles and Ray Eames. He loved simplicity, elegance and beauty, even in the parts you don't see. As the book says "From his father, he learned that a hallmark of passionate craftsmanship is making sure that even the aspects that will remain hidden are done beautifully.  A great carpenter wouldn’t use a piece of plywood on the back even though it faces the wall and no one will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there. The aesthetic, the quality, must be carried all the way through."  He drove his engineers crazy by wanting even the circuit board, something that no consumer would ever see, be beautifully laid out.

Steve Jobs believed that the work they were doing was like creating art and that even engineers could be artists. After the first Macintosh computer was completely ready to go - missed deadlines and all -  Isaacson writes: "Steve called the Mac team together for a ceremony. Real artists sign their work, he said. So he got out a sheet of drafting paper and a sharpie pen and had all of them sign their names. The signatures were engraved inside each Macintosh. No one would ever see them, but the members of the team knew that their signatures were inside. Just as they knew that the circuit board was laid out as elegantly as possible. Jobs called them each up by name, one at a time.  He waited to go last after all forty-five of the others. He found a place right in the center of the sheet and signed his name in lower case letters with a grand flair. Then he toasted them with champagne. "With moments like this, he got us seeing our work as art". 

I think these words really resonate with anyone who creates a product or provides a service, particularly in home design. Apple's attention to detail is always awe inspiring to me. I bought an iPhone a little under a year ago and just being handed the box was exciting to me.

The iPhone 3Gs box is just 5-1/4"H x 3"W x 2-1/4"D and fits nicely in the hand. The box is actually molded with an iPhone image embossed on the front, including an indent for the button. The cardboard is thick and sturdy and feels very nice to the touch,  and the design simple and elegant.

I especially love that the top is larger than the bottom, which makes it look more like a fine presentation box for a perfume or jewelry than an electronic device. Plus, it's a subtle reminder of the face of the original Macintosh desktop.

The thing this has me pondering is how to be a perfectionist and demand better than the best for my clients, while still trying to be a pleaser? Jobs certainly didn't worry about people liking him and the book doesn't hold back from how unpleasant he could be. But, since I am not a genius and am not going to change the world, I need to be a bit more conciliatory to others. Yet, it is something I struggle with, being "nice" without compromising quality. I'm sure others struggle with this as well.

As I have been pondering these things over the last couple of days, my friend and photographer Michael J. Lee posted this very interesting piece on his blog about his time working for the well-known interior designer Richard FitzGerald. Michael writes of Mr. FitzGerald "Mr. FitzGerald (even his clients 20 plus years his senior addressed him as Mister) is the most respected designer I've ever known, he was charmingly shy, debonair and spot on, every single time! On my second day, a custom rug was being delivered, as the the rug was being unwrapped, Mr. Fitz said wrap it back up, the delivery guy said "what!?!" The custom colored, custom sized rug of was "off" and Mr. Fitz was not about to sell or give his client a song and dance. The rug was wrong, period. He would figure out what went wrong and regardless of where the blame lay, the client would get the perfect custom rug, no matter what."

Well, here is a serious gentleman who clearly managed to be both a perfectionist and well-liked. You can read all of Michael's post here. The image above is from Mr. FitzGerald's Cape Cod home, photographed by Michael.  You will read on Michael's blog post that he himself painted the floor in the room in the background.

I'd love to hear your thoughts - especially those who produce products or work with clients - on how to balance being perfect with good enough (is good enough really good enough?) and being "liked".

If you would like my help on your design project, I would love to chat with you! Please email me. Thanks!

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