Perfect Enough: Ken Davenport, Broadway Executive Producer | Waste No Potential

“Sometimes the difference between the unfinished painting and the finished painting is as simple as finding the right frame.” — Rick Rubin

A plumber knows when a job is complete. Water turns on. Water turns off.

But when we plumb the depths of our soul to create an original idea, how do we know when the idea is complete? When do we stop putting the finishing touches on something and let it breathe a life of its own? When did Michelangelo put down his chisel and claim David was perfect enough?

For our guest Ken Davenport, his career as a producer of some of the biggest theatre shows on Broadway didn’t start when someone gave him the handbook on how to run a successful production. In fact, he will tell you he often had no idea what he was doing in his early career. But that didn’t stop him from trying.

In the theatre world, there are a million things that can go wrong: actors’ lines, costume details, lighting cues, ticket sales. But for Davenport, he wasn’t searching for perfection. He was simply constantly moving toward his goal, using a memorable tennis metaphor to figure out answers along the way. His goal wasn’t to be perfect — his goal was to be done.

After all, what is perfectionism good for? Human beings aren’t perfect, so why are we constantly in search of it? When we let go of the idea of being perfect, we make room for something far more important: being one-of-a-kind.