Imperfect and in progress

What it takes to make your idea real

I spoke with a surgeon once about what it’s like to be doing a surgery. I wanted to know how it feels like to wield a scalpel, what it’s like to make an incision and tie a suture.

He was describing a case and seemed tired. He said (and I’m paraphrasing here), “you make a cut and then you see how you did and then you make the next cut. Not every move will be ideal.” I asked him how often during a surgery you evaluate your next move, make a decision, and then figure out how to make it work. He said, perhaps 300 times in a surgery.

I thought he might say three.

Surgery is dynamic. The patient is asleep, but the case is a constant back and forth between one human’s anatomy (the patient) and another’s (the surgeon’s hands, eyes, brain, and heart). 

I thought the surgeon was tired from standing up all day, hovering over an abdomen, without a break. Now I wondered if the fatigue came from the 300 decision points, or their replay afterwards. 

We have to learn to live with the risk of making an irreversible cut, with the reality that it is impossible to make 300 perfect moves in a row. We have to learn to trust ourselves that even if one move doesn’t go the way we expected, we can make a series of decisions that lead to a great outcome. We have to learn to trust ourselves as we make 300 decisions and do the best we can with the case that’s perpetually unfolding before us.

You can’t do it perfectly and you can still have a great outcome.

When you have to make 300 decisions, you will be tired and you can do it.

Imperfect and in progress are the only way forward. There are simply decisions you make and keep making. 

My friend Stephen says something similar about the process of editing a book. You write and write and write and eventually you have a draft. Then you move into editing and you start making decisions. You decide this is in and this is out. This intro doesn’t work and it’s getting scrapped. That is not chapter seven, it is chapter three.

When all you’ve got is an idea, you don’t have to decide. You can hypothesize and imagine possibilities and theorize and daydream.

But when you want to have a thing you care about in the world, you have to decide. Hundreds and . It helps to remember that you can’t do it perfectly and your project can still be great.

What would happen if we approached our creative projects with the cool reserve of a surgeon? One incision at a time. One move that informs the next. Decide and learn to live with your decision. Decide again and earn the privilege of trusting yourself. Decide again and again and watch your idea come to life.

Today’s post was written by Kristin and edited by Margo. You should thank the latter because she vetoed the truly frightening operating room photo Kristin tried to put in this post. Happy Tuesday y’all!

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