Seth Godin: Failing On Our Way To Mastery

Another great episode by The Knowledge Project, host Shane Parrish interviews author Seth Godin about the nature of work, creativity, and productivity. In the interview, Godin discusses ‘Meeting The Spec’ @ 1:01:26, where ‘Spec’ is a set of parameters that define good enough.

Godin continues to say 'good enough' isn't a slur, rather, it is how we define quality. We know that any work-product can never be perfect -- it will always have some defect. Spec is valuable as a tool to determine and consistently measure the level of defect in a piece of work-product that is acceptable.

For lawyers trained to love perfection, and pursue exactitude, Godin’s idea of Spec might sound alien and more like malpractice; something inappropriate in the practice of law.

However to disregard Spec is to miss the point. Lawyers with a business orientation intuitively know that there are times where ‘good enough’ will achieve the desired outcomes yet fall short of perfectionism.

To my mind, Spec is important in the legal sector for a variety of reasons; (1) it helps us understand what quality means, (2) it outlines the boundaries of acceptable vs unacceptable, (3) it forces the delineation of an acceptable risk threshold, (4) thereby freeing us from perfectionism, (5) increasing productivity, and (6) it helps to maintain consistency in the production of work.

Spec isn’t an argument against quality legal work – It’s a call to determine which parameters are necessary, and which ones are not, in the production of quality work-product.

To hear more from Godin and this interview, I’d encourage you to check out the podcast, here.

Seth Godin: Failing On Our Way To Mastery  The Knowledge Project Ep. #105 Podcast, 02.23.2021. 1:20:42