A level of perfcetion

Last Monday, together with Pep Rosenfeld, I was a guest at Boom Chicago’s comedy show where I performed before a filled room.

We improvised for an hour and a half about startups and entrepreneurs. Some parts went so well, people couldn’t imagine we made it all up on the spot – not necessarily a good thing as I believe our jokes are more impressive if you know they aren’t rehearsed.

In many handmade Persian rugs and carpets, you can find a deliberate mistake.

One thread of color might be off by a few shades, or a pattern might appear to be broken. The reason being, according to some followers of Islam, only Allah can make things perfect, and it would be an offense to Allah to try to achieve the same level of perfection, even in a simple rug.

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The point I want to make with these examples is that I like making mistakes. Not big fuck-ups, but small things that show I’m human.

I think it makes people around you more comfortable as well. An article might be appreciated more if there’s at least one typo, grammatical error or some faulty logic in it. Perfection is boring. Making mistakes is human.

Being a professional doesn’t mean you avoid making mistakes. It means doing a great job, without losing your humanity.

This is my introduction text for last week’s issue of our TNW Weekly update. You can read the whole newsletter here, or sign up to receive your own copy.