Michael Jackson and The Blinding Pursuit of Perfection

I love polishing things to perfection, even if I often wonder afterward if it was all that useful.

Here’s a great story regarding how our desire to polish things to perfection may lead us astray.

Grammy-winning sound engineer and producer Bruce Swedien was in the recording studio with Michael Jackson to work on a song from Thriller, arguably one of the best albums ever made.

After being in the studio together for many hours and playing the final mix of the song, Michael Jackson said to him:

“Bruce, that’s perfect. But let’s try one more mix.”

And by that point, they were already at mix 80. This meant they already had 80 different versions of the same song. Bruce responded with:

“No problem. So we did it, and finally we got up to mix 91.”

At that point, Quincy Jones, the album’s producer, came in and said, “What are you guys doing in here all this time?”

Michael and Bruce told him: “Quincy, we’re mixing something beautiful. We got a fabulous mix!

Quincy Jones cuts right to chase and says: “Let me hear it. Let me hear that POS you think you’re making so perfect.”

Michael and Bruce played mix 91 for him and came to the end. It got real quiet in the control room. Quincy said to Michael and Bruce: “Okay guys, let’s listen to mix 2.”

So they played mix 2, and it blew everything else away.

In the words of the late Bruce Swedien: “That was the most badass mix… and that’s what went out when they released Billie Jean - Mix 2.”

Billie Jean, one of the most famous songs ever on one of the most critically acclaimed albums ever made, was released as mix 2 instead of the mix 91 that was supposedly polished to perfection.

Sometimes, we’re so stuck trying to chase perfection that it may come at the expense of the greatness that’s already there. If nobody would have put this pursuit of perfection to a grinding halt, then maybe the legendary mix 2 would never have seen the light of day.

In other words: don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Here’s the original video. I recommend you to watch it, as it is way more entertaining than what I’ve written:

Remember, when you’re polishing something to perfection, ask yourself the following question: are you busy with mix 91, or are you working toward mix 2?

Sometimes, taking a step back or getting someone else to look at what you’re doing will often give you a wholly different perspective than when you’re in the thick of it.