Milan, 11/12/2025
We live in a time where everything seems like it has to be perfect: optimized codes, impeccable workflow, best possible tools, maximized performances. In a few words: no mistakes.
The culture of perfection (perfectionism) is not just popular, but it’s often taken for granted. Yet, while I was thinking about this topic, I realized how this obsession could delete the main point of the learning (and creative) process: imperfection.
I would like to try to express and valorise this idea: the pursuit of imperfection as an unconventional act, a way to return to actually learn.
When I talk about the pursuit of imperfection I don’t mean you have to point aim to the mistake or purposely produce a mediocre output. Instead, you just have to accept that what you do will not be perfect, especially the first time you do it. It is about recognizing the value of doing something your own way, knowing your temporary limits, learning along the way instead of demanding an excellent result from the very beginning.
This problem is particularly obvious in Computer Science. Every time you approach a new language or a new technology, everything inside you (and around you) seems suggesting you to “do the right thing”, to “find the best solution” or to “define the perfect design pattern”.
But, who said perfection is the starting point?
Today, there are powerful tools such as advanced tutorials, guides, Q&A online groups (Stackoverflow and Reddit, for instance) and of course AI. These tools can provide us with the cleanest solutions, rapidly and efficiently. That is useful, of course, but it comes with a huge collateral effect. In this way, an important part of the learning process gets lost.
On the other hand, when you let yourself do things in an imperfect way, something completely different happens: you gain your own proper knowledge.
In other words, imperfection opens you up to significant growth opportunities. If the first version of your project is perfect, then there is no space for improvement. But, when the first version is yours, with your own limits and your own confused ideas, you have crafted a solid ground layer from which you can start and build.
In a world that runs after perfectionism, choosing to be imperfect is a form of creative resistance.
It is a way to remind you that what matters is not just reaching the result, but understanding how you got there.