Garry Tan (Y Combinator CEO) has this philosophy called "Boil the Lake" — and when I heard it, one word: YES. One sentence: where have you been all my life.
The idea is simple. AI has crushed the marginal cost of doing things completely down to near-zero. So when you're choosing between 80% and 100% — just do 100%. The extra effort is now minutes, not days.
Me? I say 120%. Do 120% in 10% of the time — there has never been a better era for this!
The Lake vs The Ocean
He makes a sharp distinction:
Lake = achievable completeness. Full coverage, all edge cases handled, output polished to a shine. Boil it.
Ocean = unrealistic scope. Full system rewrite, multi-quarter migration. Flag it and move on.
My Real-World Example
I run an HR consulting practice serving 40+ companies. A retrenchment worksheet that used to take me 3 days? Recently, with a clear instructional framework from me (the human), plus my super assistant Kai (my Claude AI), I ship a better version in 3 hours. Same statutory formulas, same market benchmarking — but more scenario modelling, more polish, fewer gaps.
Deep Deep Dive...
So why would I deliver 80%? 120%!
The Red Robin vs Chili's Story
Garry's favourite case study: Red Robin fired all their bussers to cut costs. Stock crashed 96%. Chili's invested in customer experience instead. Grew 31%.
This is the choice every business is facing right now. You can use AI to cut corners and fire people. Or you can use AI to deliver something your clients have never seen before.
Let me say that again — you can use AI to deliver something your clients have never seen before.
Where I Stand
17 years in HR consulting, and I'm choosing to boil the lake. I know where the edges of my lake are. I'm not going to be dumb enough to promise the moon, the sea, and the sky — but I know what my 120% looks like, and it's growing day by day.
What About You?
Still delivering "good enough"?
When "complete" costs the same as "good enough"?
I can comfortably rest a full eight hours, eat well, sleep well — and still give you 120%.
The progress bars will move.