I have a client I work with who referenced an idea with me recently called GETMO or Good Enough To Move On. They said they learned it from a leader named Craig Groeschel and some of their leadership material. I don't know if Craig is the first person to think of this idea, but it certainly is a great idea to consider.
GETMO is the solution to a problem I sometimes talk about when I am working with leaders that I call "paralysis by analysis" or "the paralysis of perfection." Here's how I observe this functioning. An individual or a team is working on a project or a problem and they have the solution or answer clearly in mind and are diligently working toward completion or implementation. But sometimes there can be a moment where, "It's close, but not quite there!" There is a perfect solution that we see, or are trying to find, and we just don't have it at 100% yet. So we keep analyzing and working to get to that place of it being exactly right.
While trying to implement the best solutions to problems isn't bad, I've seen people get so stuck in the last 5-15% of trying to get to perfection that they actually don't end up doing anything. They spin out trying to find the place of perfection. And this is where GETMO can be really helpful because getting to the place of perfection may not actually be possible! Instead, if we make a decision that recognizes we've gotten far enough to move forward, that is way better than getting stuck in analysis!
Here's another way to think about this. I am an iPhone user. I think we are currently on version 15 of the iPhone (or something like that). I am sure that when they came out with the very first one, they knew there were a whole lot more features they could include. And, as fast as technology moves, if they had kept developing and working to get to perfection, we still probably wouldn't have version #1. But at some point the team at Apple decided, "It's GETMO!" It's good enough to put it out into the world while we still keep working on developing and making it better, which is why I am now using an iPhone 15!
There are certainly lots of places in our lives where we might apply this idea of GETMO, but where does it resonate the most with you? Is there an area in which you are caught in the loop of paralysis by analysis? Are you working to achieve some type of perfection that may not actually be possible, and what would it mean if you just decided to GETMO?
Whatever you may be working on this week, take some time to consider if GETMO would be a helpful approach!
Be Well,
Stephen
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