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Em resumo

If the pursuit of perfection is undermining the effectiveness of your action or campaign, then do only what is strategically warranted, and save your sanity and energy.

We have no art. We do everything as well as we can.

— Balinese saying

As artists, we often have the desire to produce the most beautiful, provocative, and breathtaking piece of art we can. This can be a wonderful thing — sometimes. Other times, it’s more important to get something out into the world that’s just beautiful enough to do the job, and then move on to strategic necessities.

If painting the Sistine Chapel undermines your effectiveness, then do only what is strategically warranted, and save your sanity and energy.

Here are a few cases when seeking perfection could backfire on you:

When building community is a key goal of your project, creating a high bar of perfection can discourage broad participation.
When you have that “Oh shit, it has to be done in 24 hours!” or “We need a small army to get all this done!” moment of panic, it might be better to wrap it up and move on to other tasks.
When you are out of money or other resources, or on the verge of depriving other essential parts of your action of being funded or resourced.
When the banner or prop will be viewed from hundreds of feet away or is not the centrepiece of the action.
When the prop is likely to be smashed as part of the action or taken into custody by the cops.

In short, if it’s in your strategic interest to spend all your time and/or money on the “artfulness” of your action, then go right ahead and do it. But if metaphorically painting the Sistine Chapel undermines your effectiveness, then do only what is strategically warranted, and save your sanity and energy.

Originally published in Beautiful Trouble.