The Last 1% of Work

Most projects do not make it to the finish line, but for the ones that do, I always find that the ending is bittersweet.

The most important question I’ve been thinking about lately is the “last mile” of work. I would define the last mile as the work that is left once the project is basically complete. For me, it represents a glimpse into what the project could have been under ideal circumstances and where it fell short. I can often see through to the other side - what it was actually meant to be and how I would have approached things differently. Sometimes, I even finish a project and only then understand the true essence of what it was I was trying to make, but by then it is often too late. The sad part is often having to release it as-is, despite its shortcomings due to budget, time, needing to move on with life, or other constraints.

In this final stage, I often foresee a clear path of the next set of iterations for a project and what it could become as a company or something bigger if I continued on this vector.

Every project has its fundamentals - imagine being able to think through your fundamentals in deeper ways, rearranging, questioning them or amplifying them as needed.

Other times, the work is really thinking through key details and imagining them as what they could be - elevating what currently is with something exceptional, tasteful, or forward thinking.

But the real work is in the rework. Imagine recreating something over four times from scratch until you really get to the essence of what it is you’re trying to make. Conceptually, stylistically, and craft wise - getting it right. Pixar is known for this and so was Howard Hughes but I struggle to think of others, which is really saying something.

I often think we celebrate too much when projects complete at all (especially on time), the equivalent of some kind of participation trophy. We don’t celebrate enough when we hold back work or take it offline because it just wasn’t good enough. Most of what we make is a waste. At best, it is single-use, but otherwise disposable. This is something I find difficult to internalize. Most of what I made, I did not like nor did it contribute meaningfully to society. I have very little to show for my life in the grand scheme of things, as do most others, I would wager.

I would define the best products or works as worlds I would choose to live in. Something worthy of complete self immersion. World-building so good you would opt to world-live in it, just to experience its beauty a little bit longer.

The thing I crave the most is to make something original and truly new, that achieves my real vision, but also achieves it in a way that works as a whole in a genre defining way.

I hope AI helps me more with the rework than the work. I want to get to the last 1% of a project and spend the next few years or the rest of my life there. I want to work on something until that something is truly ready to meet the world, in all of its pure essence and glory.