ImperfectSolutions

In both our real and our organizational lives (if there is a difference between the two), there are no perfect solutions to the problems/dilemmas we face.  Yet, we often find ourselves in a state of inertia while awaiting some epiphany that launches us into a perfect solution/response/plan/strategy.

Just as there is 

no perfect inventory management strategy, 

no perfect offense in football, 

no perfect curriculum, 

no perfect recipe,

no perfect parenting formula,

no perfect crisis management plan,

there are no perfect organizational solutions.  

Moe (my lovely bride of 37 years) often quotes one of her favorite sages, Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms, "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly, at first."  JS makes a good point:  just start by doing something, understanding that you'll have to modify and adjust as you go.

The best approach is to focus our energy and efforts on pursuing the “best” solutions for the moment or current circumstance, understanding that some solution is almost always better than doing nothing. 

The solution we choose/craft may change tomorrow, or even in the next minute.  That’s okay, as long as tomorrow (or in the next minute) we’re still working to deploy the “best” solution for the current challenge or circumstance.  

(In fact, I've come to believe that problems may have an evolutionary life much like those superbugs that keep outwitting the antibiotics - they seem to morph into some form that eludes our current best plan of attack.  But that's a whole nother blog post.)