Too often, people strive for perfectionism to do “exactly” what another person wants, whether that be a partner, boss, colleague, or friend. They create angst and spend unnecessary time trying to figure out — then hit — a precise target in an effort to please someone else.
In reality, more often than not, the other person doesn’t have an ultra-specific outcome they are trying to attain; it’s more of a range of acceptable results. It reminded me of a graph I saw long ago to depict graduation rates. The boxes all show a range of graduation rates for reference group schools, and the red X shows where the example school’s rates are. You can see that they are within the range for all the sub-groups except for one.
I think the image is a good one to keep in mind when you’re trying to make decisions. There is an acceptable range of responses and your goal should be to stay within that box, rather than trying to hit an elusive bullseye. Ask your boss or colleague what the box parameters are, then use your good judgment to take action and move on. Unless precision is truly warranted, it’s a waste of energy to try and attain it.