I love a checklist.
There are few things more satisfying to me than completing a piece of work, checking it off, and knowing that it was done to an exceptionally high standard. It makes me happy just thinking about it.
I want the work I produce to be thoughtful, accurate, useful, and something I am genuinely proud to put my name on. People in compliance usually do.
That mindset is useful for us. Our profession rewards people who notice details, anticipate problems, follow through, and care whether something is actually effective rather than merely complete.
But that same mindset can also make the work feel relentless.
The Problem With “Practice Makes Perfect”
For years, I have disliked the phrase “practice makes perfect.”
Nothing is perfect. A policy can always be clearer. A training course can always be more engaging. An investigation process can always be more efficient. A risk assessment can always include another data point, stakeholder interview, or layer of analysis.
If perfection is the destination, we are committing ourselves to a journey that can never end.
That is why I was so taken with a different version of the phrase when I heard it.
Practice makes progress.
Practice makes progress. That feels both more realistic and more useful.
We may not be able to make something perfect. We may not even be able to finish everything we hoped to accomplish. But we can almost always move something forward.
And sometimes, progress is the most meaningful result available to us.
Many Compliance Professionals are Perfectionists
Many compliance professionals are highly driven, highly responsible, and deeply committed to doing excellent work.
We like to solve problems. We like to close gaps. We like to complete projects and know that the organization is safer, stronger, and better because of what we did.
Unfortunately, the nature of compliance work means that there is almost always more to do.
There is another policy to update, another business unit to train, another third party to review, another control to test, and another regulation to understand. Even when we complete a major project, the organization continues changing around us.
Internal Roadblocks
On top of that, we often face internal roadblocks that have nothing to do with our own effort or competence.
Budgets are frozen. Headcount requests are denied. Technology implementations take longer than expected. Stakeholders are unavailable. Priorities change. Other teams have competing deadlines. Projects that seemed straightforward become dependent on six different approvals and three separate systems.
When you are someone who takes pride in getting things done, those constraints can feel deeply frustrating. It can be easy to interpret an unfinished project as a failure, even when the circumstances were largely outside of our control.
That is where progress becomes such an important measure.
Progress Is Not a Consolation Prize
Progress does not mean lowering our standards. It does not mean accepting poor-quality work, ignoring risk, or declaring victory simply because something moved slightly forward.
Progress means recognizing the difference between what is ideal and what is possible right now, and then using the available resources, influence, and time to improve the current state.
That might mean completing the highest-risk portion of a project first. It might mean launching a strong first version and iterating over time. It might mean gaining agreement from one key stakeholder, securing funding for the next phase, or moving a complicated initiative from concept into production.
These may not be the satisfying, definitive endings we prefer. But they matter.
They create momentum. They reduce risk. They establish credibility. They make the next step easier.
Progress compounds.
Learning to Measure the Work Differently
I have been thinking about this frequently while working on a significant redesign of Diligent’s compliance training suite.
The goal is ambitious. I’m working to create courses that are more interesting, innovative, engaging, and informed by the opportunities AI now provides. It is exciting work, and I care enormously about the quality of the final product.
But creating an entire new product takes time. I have had to remind myself that the right question is not always, “Is it finished?”
For this and other major projects, the better questions are:
- Is it closer to done than it was last month?
- Did we resolve an important issue?
- Did we move through a new phase?
- Did we make a decision that will allow the work to move faster from here?
- Are we meaningfully closer to the result we want?
Those questions do not eliminate the urgency or lower the standard. They simply provide a more accurate picture of whether the work is succeeding.
The Work Is Never Entirely Done
The nature of compliance is that we will never finish everything.
That does not mean we are failing.
It means we are working in a dynamic profession inside dynamic organizations.
Perfection is not a useful measuring stick because it does not exist. “Everything is finished” is not a useful measuring stick because, in compliance, everything never will be finished.
Progress is the measure that reflects the real work.
We should still aim high. We should still care deeply about quality. We should still push for the resources, attention, and support that effective compliance programs require.
But we should also recognize what we have moved forward.
Practice makes progress. Progress reduces risk. Progress strengthens programs. And progress is something worth being proud of.