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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker admires Astaire's perfectionism and ability to work on small details for hours.
In plain terms
Fred Astaire worked on tiny parts of his dance for hours to get them perfect.
What can you take from it?
Perfectionism drives excellence in performance.

Where it applies

  • creative work
  • training
  • project management

Putting it to work

  • quality control
  • skill development
  • leadership

Questions to consider

  • When is good enough enough?
  • How do you handle perfectionism?

Another view

Perfectionism can lead to diminishing returns or burnout.

More from Fred Astaire

  1. No dancer can watch Fred Astaire and not know that we all should have been in another business

    Permalink to quote #70
  2. He's the greatest dancer who ever lived--greater than Nijinsky.

    Permalink to quote #72
  3. The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any

    Permalink to quote #69

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