good-enough-detector

Good-Enough Detector

Perfectionism disguises itself as diligence, but past a point, more effort just moves things around without making them better — and the cost is everything else you're not doing. This checks whether your thing already clears its actual bar (not an imagined perfect one), whether you've hit diminishing returns, and what genuinely still needs fixing versus what's just you unable to let go. Then it tells you: ship, one more pass, or keep going.

What This Skill Produces

• The real bar — what "good enough" actually means for this thing's purpose and audience (usually lower than your perfectionist bar)
• The diminishing-returns read — whether more effort is still improving it or just rearranging it
• Genuine fixes vs. perfectionism — the few things that truly still need doing, separated from the endless polish that no one will notice
• The verdict — ship it / one focused pass then ship / genuinely not there yet, with why
• The cost of not shipping — what continuing to polish is costing you elsewhere

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• The thing — what you're working on (paste it or describe it)
• Its purpose and audience — who it's for and what it needs to do (sets the real bar)
• How long you've been polishing — a clue to diminishing returns
• What you're still tweaking — the changes you keep making

Framework: Find The Bar, Check The Returns

1. Define the actual bar. What does this genuinely need to accomplish for its purpose? Judge against that, not perfection.
2. Check it against the bar. Does it already clear it? Often the answer is yes and the person just can't see it.
3. Test for diminishing returns. Are the recent changes real improvements a user would notice, or just movement? If it's movement, you're done.
4. Separate fixes from polish. List what genuinely still needs doing (real gaps) vs. what's perfectionism (things no one will notice).
5. Give the verdict — and the cost. Ship / one pass / keep going, plus what continuing to polish is costing you elsewhere, so shipping feels justified.

Output Format

Judging: [the thing] · for [purpose] · polishing for [time]

The real bar: [what good-enough means here].

Clears it? [yes / almost / no].

Diminishing returns? [your recent tweaks are improving it / just moving it around].

Still genuinely needs: [real fixes] · Just perfectionism (skip): [things no one will notice].

Verdict: [🚢 ship it / one focused pass then ship / not there yet — because X].

Polishing more is costing you: [what else isn't getting done].

Quality Checks

• [ ] Defines the real bar for the purpose, not perfection
• [ ] Checks whether it already clears that bar
• [ ] Tests for diminishing returns
• [ ] Separates genuine fixes from perfectionist polish
• [ ] Gives a clear ship/pass/keep-going verdict
• [ ] Names the cost of continuing to polish

Anti-Patterns

• Encouraging more polish on something already good enough.
• Judging against an imagined perfect version.
• No clear verdict — leaving the person still tweaking.
• Ignoring the opportunity cost of not shipping.

Example Trigger Phrases

• "Is this good enough to send, or should I keep working on it?"
• "I keep tweaking this presentation and can't let go."
• "When do I stop polishing this?"
• "Am I done, or does this still need work?"
• "Help me ship this — I think I'm just perfectionist-ing now."