Adam Grant wasn’t built for springboard diving.
Not by a long shot.
His teammates called him “Frankenstein,” a nickname born from his stiff, awkward movements on the board.
He lacked the natural grace, flexibility, and explosive power the sport demanded.
But Adam was determined, and he thought he had the key to success: perfectionism.
Perfectionism was a familiar companion.
It whispered in his ear that if he could get every detail just right, he’d win.
So, Adam doubled down.
He practiced tirelessly, but not in the way that made him better.
Instead of learning harder dives, he focused on perfecting the simpler ones.
Hour after hour, he critiqued his entry angles, the tension in his legs, and even the position of his pinky toe.
Meanwhile, his teammates were pushing themselves to master dives that would score far more points.
Then there was the "boing."
That’s what his coach, Eric, called Adam’s habit of stopping mid-approach if something felt even slightly off.
Whether he was leaning too far forward or backward, or if the rhythm of his steps was out of sync, Adam would freeze, turn around, and start over.
Dive after dive, session after session.
His obsession with perfection meant he attempted only a fraction of the dives his teammates managed during practice.
It was Eric who finally broke through.
Sitting Adam down one day, he said, “You know, there’s no such thing as a perfect dive.”
Adam didn’t believe him.
After all, the sport was built on a scoring system that seemed to reward flawlessness.
But Eric explained that even dives scoring tens in the Olympics weren’t perfect.
“Tens are for excellence, not perfection,” he said.
The real problem, Eric told him, wasn’t his lack of talent. It was his mindset.
Adam was spending so much time trying not to fail that he wasn’t giving himself the chance to grow.
“You’re wasting time perfecting dives that are already good enough,” Eric said. “We need to focus on progress.”
Eric proposed a new plan.
For each dive, they’d set a realistic goal.
Simple dives might aim for a six or seven.
Harder dives—those Adam had been avoiding—would focus solely on completion, even if they scored just a two or three.
The goal wasn’t perfection; it was improvement.
At first, it felt unnatural to Adam. A dive that scored a two was hard to celebrate. But gradually, he started to see the results.
By letting go of perfectionism, he was finally learning harder dives.
His degree of difficulty rose, and with it, his scores.
He wasn’t stuck on the board anymore, restarting his approach.
He was moving forward.
Three years later, Adam wasn’t the worst diver on the team anymore.
He was competing at the Junior Olympic Nationals.
He didn’t get there by perfecting every dive.
He got there by embracing imperfection and focusing on progress.
Adam Grant’s journey as a diver taught him a profound lesson that transcends the sport itself:
The pursuit of perfection often becomes the very obstacle to growth.
True growth comes when you accept that mistakes aren’t failures.
They’re steps on the path forward.
It wasn’t until he abandoned the need for a perfect takeoff that he truly began to improve.
Instead of obsessing over flawless execution, he focused on incremental progress, embracing the messy, imperfect process of learning.
This mindset shift—prioritizing progress over perfection—allowed Adam to unlock his hidden potential and reach levels of success he once thought impossible.
The lesson for all of us?
Stop waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect opportunity, or the perfect performance.
Take the leap, embrace imperfection, and let the act of doing propel you forward.
Growth isn’t about where you start—it’s about how far you’re willing to go.
This post was inspired by Adam Grant's interview with Rangan Chatterjee, How To Escape The 'Rat Race' & Take Back Control Of Your Life.
