WHAT TO DO ABOUT BAD WORK

I screwed up.

I did a bad job.

It happens.

If you’re in the business of making stuff, of creating, or… well the business of anything, eventually, you’re going to screw up and put out bad work. Like I said, it just happens.

It happened to me recently. I did some work that wasn’t my best and it made it’s way out into the world. It took me out for a day. I took it very personally. Eventually, though, I realized I had to shake it off. Here’s some of the stuff I told myself.

1. Nobody probably knows. Most people who look at my work, even the bad stuff, are looking at it with a less critical eye. Hell, unless you’re in the same business I am, then you might not even have the critical faculties to judge the work. Most people that see it just aren’t going to recognize it as sub-par. If you can easily recognize it, you’re probably in the same industry I am. You were never going to hire me, anyway. And, honestly, if you’re in the same industry I am, your opinion of my work means very little.

2. The ratio matters. I have a lot of work in the world. Ten years of it. Most of it. The vast majority of it, I’m happy with. I’m proud of. Most of it is a pretty good representation of what I can do. The percentage of the work that I’m not proud of is pretty small. That little bit of bad work doesn’t erase the good, no matter how much it might feel like it does.

3. Shipping never stops. Maybe I did a bad job yesterday. The good news is that today I have another opportunity to prove I can do this job. The work never stops. Figure out the lesson, take it to heart, and get back to work. Give yourself the gift of sucking. Let yourself be bad for a day and then get back to being good.

Video version: https://youtu.be/XdIpEwZiK3g