Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect, Process Makes Perfect
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The idea that practice makes perfect is a flat out lie. Practice does not make perfect. Unquestionably, if you practice something wrong you will never be perfect no matter how much you practice. Therefore, only perfect practice can make perfect and the only way to have a perfect practice is to perfect the process for practice.
A process is a series of interrelated steps that are repeatable. The fact that a process is repeatable is what makes it so valuable to the idea of being perfect. One perfect practice does not make one perfect. However, if you can repeat the exact steps of a perfect practice over and over by using a process, then “aspiring for perfect” is possible.
I put the words “aspiring for perfect” in quotes because as we all know setting the bar at perfection is often unrealistic. Oddly enough, perfectionism is an imperfect desire. But aspiring for perfection as you accept imperfection when perfect is not possible is not.
John Wooden’s perspective on perfection says it best:
The effort is what counts in everything…Perfection is what you are striving for, but perfection is an impossibility. However, striving for perfection is not an impossibility. Do the best you can under the conditions that exist. That is what counts.
If you buy-in to Wooden’s perspective on perfection, then striving for a perfect process is the effort that counts when perfect practice is the goal.