Far From Perfect

Far From Perfect

We recently ordered a table for home. A small and fairly simple design, with a Rosewood coloured Melamine polish coating.
However, to make the base stable, the people from the store turned it upside down to chisel a little bit. And this is how the underside looked.

To save a few bucks, the underside was conveniently left unpolished. And this is not a case of just a table. It’s all around us. We have a tendency to avoid the small extra effort by default. Efforts which may not add too much value to the product per se, but which significantly lower the appreciation you would have for the product, when avoided.

When will we Indians realize the importance of quality and perfection?
When will we stop our Jugaad and cutting corners to save those few insignificant bucks.

Steve Jobs learnt a lot about quality and perfection from his father, something that helped build all those magnificent products that people take pride in owning today. His father refused to use poor wood for the back of cabinets they built for home. Or once when a young Steve was helping his father build their garden fence, his father taught him to make the back of the fence as perfect in appearance as the front. Even parts or areas which were not visible, like the back of a cupboard, etc. had to be done perfectly. That reflected love and passion for perfection.

When will we go overboard in our passion for something, so that a marvelous product or service will emerge as a result?

So that we can create something that lasts a lot longer than a quick profit.

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