The perfect pitch
“Do not seek perfection in a changing world. Instead, perfect your love.” ― The Buddha
I have always considered myself a perfectionist. Perfectionism is deeply rooted in my childhood and my upbringing and at one point I realized: it is a double-edged sword. It pushes you to do more, do better, achieve more, and be better than anyone else, but also, it can also lead to burnout, and in some cases, it is the biggest blocker to delivering something (until it is pixel-perfect). So I started to work on understanding the root causes of my perfectionism and trying to make it work in my favor and not against me.
When can perfectionism work for you?
Quality - You as a perfectionist, set high standards for yourself and your work, and most likely to your team’s work. This leads to a strong focus on quality and a drive for excellence. Whatever you and your team deliver is most likely super polished and flawless.
Motivation - The desire to achieve flawlessness can be a powerful motivator. Perfectionists may be highly disciplined, persistent, and willing to put in the extra effort to achieve their goals.
Attention to detail - A perfectionist often has a keen eye for detail and a strong work ethic. This can be beneficial in tasks requiring precision and accuracy. You’ll most likely catch some tiny details that might be important but most people miss.
Work ethic - A perfectionist is most likely dependable and reliable due to their commitment to quality and a strong work ethic. As a leader, this serves as a good example for your team.
As you can see, having a handful of perfectionists on board can be a dream scenario for most businesses. But…
What are the drawbacks?
Procrastination - If you’re afraid of making mistakes or not achieving perfection, you’re more prone to procrastination and avoidance of tasks. You might not want to start before all the details are clarified so that the final product will be perfect. Or polish it forever so that you don’t have to release something imperfect.
Stress and anxiety - The constant pressure to be perfect can cause significant stress, anxiety, and even burnout. This can negatively impact mental and physical health. If you know what it means to do some final-final-final touches to the file before you deliver it, even if it’s close to midnight, then you know exactly what I mean. This can get serious in a startup environment where the goal is to release something as early as possible, even if it has obvious flaws.
Decreased creativity - Perfectionism can stifle creativity and innovation. The fear of failure might prevent them from taking risks or exploring new ideas.
Delegation and collaboration - No one can do it as well as I do! Is this your motto as well? Trusting others to meet your high standards can be challenging for perfectionists. This can hinder delegation and collaboration within teams - creating bottlenecks, fostering a hero culture, and impeding the growth of others.
Unnecessary pressure on your team - Make sure that you never project your crazy expectations towards yourself on your team. These unrealistic expectations set everyone up for failure. Most likely they won’t be able to meet them, and your perfectionism and constant criticism might induce an unhealthy rivalry among your people to please the never-satisfied leader. They might go over the top because of their fear of not being good enough, or getting fired. That’s surely not sustainable.
This wouldn’t be my blog if the next section wouldn’t be about finding the right balance. As my favorite yoga teacher says, you have to do a pose to a degree that it’s not too easy but not too hard either. Find the perfect pitch.
Ok, but how to find this balance?
First: analyze yourself, and understand where you’re on the sloppy vs. perfectionist scale. Then, depending on your “score”, and the expectations of your current role, the key is to strive for excellence without getting caught up in the pursuit of flawlessness. Here are some tips for finding a healthy balance:
When starting to work on a new task, define “good enough”. Not only the end goal but also set up interim milestones with interim goals. Make sure these goals are realistic and achievable.
Practice sharing your work even if it’s not yet ready. What are the milestones where you can involve others, and share the half-done work product? With this, you can practice showing imperfect products to a (limited) audience. Additionally, they can provide you valuable feedback about the quality, what’s still needed, or maybe if it’s already good enough to ship it. Collaborating with the right people can help you to set your bar to the right level.
Focus on progress, not perfection. Celebrate improvements and effort, not just achieving the perfect outcome.
Embrace calculated risks and learn from mistakes. See mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow, not failures. (Hello, growth mindset!)
Practice self-compassion. Be kind to yourself and acknowledge your accomplishments. Allow yourself to make mistakes and admit them. Yes, you might say them out loud. The world will not collapse, I promise.
Focus on the big picture. Remember, perfection is an illusion. Focus on the overall value and contribution of your work.
Food for thought: Take a look at the photo. Is the leaf perfect? Would it be more perfect if it didn’t have any dark spots, uneven edges, and flawless color transitions? Now think about some of your latest projects/deliverables. When you shipped something, did you consider it perfect? Were you able to find the right balance between perfection and imperfection? I would love to hear from your personal experiences.