Pandemic Silver Lining? Letting go of Perfection.

Author’s Note: These essays are from the “unprecedented” year that was indeed like no other – 2020. The audience was marketers, but I think many of the lessons learned apply to many of us and will last far beyond the time that the word “unprecedented” (thankfully) no longer describes the times we live in. This one was about rejoicing in our willingness to NOT expect perfection of ourselves, or others.

Volume 5: May 2020

As we are entering our third monthly flip of the calendar in this #StayHome era, I am sure I am not alone in looking for any silver linings that I can find. For me, there have been a handful of such silver linings. I have enjoyed seeing the examples of people coming together for the greater good. I have laughed out loud at some of the ways people have chosen to entertain themselves. I marvel at the fact that I have had dinner with my husband and son for 40 nights in a row — and I even cooked a few of those meals myself. As someone who often arrived home too late for far too many family dinners, this has undoubtedly been a blessing, if not a personal best, for me.

Without a doubt though, one of my silver linings has been simply letting go of perfection and watching others pave the way. To be clear, I am far from perfect, but that has never stopped me from trying to get there. But as I’ve watched normally perfectly coiffed and manicured news personalities deliver their segments from their basements, with monitors stacked on a pile of family board games, I gained a new perception about so-called perfection. The Jimmys (Fallon and Kimmel) deliver their late-night monologues from sets that were designed by their toddlers. Commercials that used to have six-figure budgets are now often shot from an iPhone and made from stock footage. And they still make me cry or laugh.

Bottom line, it is working. As the 17th-century philosopher Voltaire said, “The best is the enemy of the good.” And what is good today is not perfectly polished and mistake-free, but rather is anything that comes across as authentic, and more importantly, connects to us as humans.

And guess what? It turns out that we humans don’t necessarily expect perfection. It turns out that when someone’s child, pet or spouse accidentally steps into the shot (or even intentionally and playfully does so) we rather enjoy it. Why? Because we feel even more connected to the people on the other side of the screen.

We have all pivoted countless times in our own lives to what works for us in this new reality.