Progress over Perfection

When people dream about being successful, most talk about having a perfect life or the perfect business. But here’s the catch: successful people don’t dream about perfection. They want progress – to grow. Take it from someone who accelerated through the corporate landscape, built successful businesses from scratch, and coaches people to build and expand their own.

James Schramko, Founder and Managing Director of SuperFastBusiness share his tried-and-tested framework to make sure businesses grow and develop.

So how does James ensure businesses won’t get left behind in this fast-changing world? 

Be curious

The first step to the life-long process of growth and development is being curious. Even for James, who has already been through the corporate jungle and a dozen of partnerships, there are always new layers for learning for as long as you’re good at questioning things.

Tap into your inner child a little bit, and be more curious. Seek to understand why things are and don't just accept it. – James Schramko

In this day and age when information is accessible, take the extra step of going in-depth. The art and science of being curious begin with questions of how’s and why’s. This Socratic method of questioning encourages people to question the things they were told and look beyond the obvious.

Be thirsty for knowledge. Grill experts and leaders, if you can. Their experiences are gold mines.

Start early

There is wisdom in the old saying, “the early bird catches the worm”. Although attention to detail and aiming for perfection are good disciplines, early action wins the prize.

Violently executed today is better than perfectly planned tomorrow. – James Schramko

James is not a perfectionist. For him, people have the tendency to take too much time on the planning period - romanticizing ideas even. All you need is to execute your idea today. Taking the first version of things early versus the perfect version of something later on will give you the opportunity to learn and adjust as you go. This approach is especially beneficial in online business platforms wherein landscapes change frequently. If you’re not dynamic and if you can’t innovate your idea, you’ll get left behind.

And in execution, it’s all about doing the right things, not doing things right. Instead of putting your energy into the nitty-gritty details of your plans, focus on making the right steps. The very few right steps that you are taking now will lead you to the big impact you want.

So, go ahead. Build that product, and make it perfect later.

Along the way, set yourself apart with integrity.

Integrity is a trait that may take a lifetime to build but takes a second to lose. This is why integrity is rare and often overlooked in the corporate and business world. But, this is also the trait that customers and clients notice and have an intuition for. It’s the very thing that will set you apart.

How do you build this? For James, integrity comes from self-awareness. You should know where your values are and if something is aligned with your convictions. Integrity frees you to work beyond your own interests. It encourages you to do something for the best interest of others, without sacrificing your own.

This is the pathway that James truly believes in. When you work with integrity, you essentially improve as a person. This is the path that will always lead you to growth and progress.