Well over two centuries ago, French author Voltaire wrote, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”
It’s human nature, as relevant today as it was back then--perfectionism is a common trait, particularly among successful people.
Yet if perfectionism were a prescription drug, it would bear a hefty warning label:
“A perfectionist approach may cause your best and brightest people to become unmotivated, devalued, dependent, disempowered, frustrated, and ultimately disengaged. You put them at risk for doing marginal work, and for leaving. It leads to procrastination, and tends to take a toll of stress on yourself and others in your organization.”
Even so, many leaders wear their perfectionism as a badge of honor. When I ask them about it, they will say, almost with a wink, “Maybe it’s a problem.” And the subtext is, “… but probably not.”
In fact, as I dig underneath the behavior I find they believe perfectionism is a part of what got them to where they are. This tends to hold the behavior in place for long periods of time, and makes it harder to address and change. Yet change IS possible.
Three Steps for Managing Perfectionism’s Side Effects
1. Recognize that it’s a weakness masquerading as a strength.
Your perfectionism isn’t a driver to success—it’s a barrier. You got to where you are based on being capable and motivated, and despite the side effects of perfectionism. You won’t ever truly change your perfectionist ways without accepting it’s a liability and not an asset.
2. Catch, then catch and correct your perfectionist behavior.
Once you’ve done step one, above, it’s time to start noticing it. Make notes about when your requests or demands of people are perfectionist in nature. Ask those you trust to help you notice such situations. Next, begin to correct yourself when it happens. Practice, practice, practice. If you’re doing it right, it will make you feel slightly uncomfortable for a while.
3. Set your standards to recognize the distinction between perfect and excellent.
A higher-performing core belief is this: “I have high standards—I strive and help my people strive for excellence, even as I understand that perfect is an unreasonable goal. When we fall short of excellence, we take time to learn from it, and to help each other be at our best in the future. We accept our work and life as less than perfect.
Even after making good progress, when you are under unusual stress, you may revert to perfectionism. It’s but a setback. Stick with it. Do I need to say it? Don’t hold yourself to perfection in letting go of your perfectionism.
Be patient. Practice. Enroll others to help you notice your behavior. For every year you work on this, you’ll get about a second of response time between when you WANT to be perfectionist, and when you actually do the behavior (i.e., send the email, pick up the phone, etc.) And a second is all we need.
David Peck
The Recovering Leader
Self-admission is the first step to a cure. Your article is an eye opener. It is much better to empower other to strive for excellence that frustrating everyone with perfection that is neither attainable or sustainable.
Posted by: James Eckvahl | October 26, 2011 at 03:09 PM
David, you are spot-on about perfectionism being more of a barrier than a driver. I'm a recovering perfectionist myself (with an emphasis on "recovering"!) and I find it so ironic that even when I clearly recognize this in an intellectual sense, it often still **feels** like perfectionism is a positive force in my life.
Only after several years of paying very close attention to my actions and reactions is the awareness of perfectionism as detrimental finally starting to sink in deeply.
Funny how the head can know something in such a detached and dry way while the rest of you is busy going in the opposite direction. :o)
Posted by: Joyfulmess | October 28, 2011 at 08:55 AM
This is a great article. For years I lead like this and I ran so many employees away! As I began to look for progress vs perfection, I began to motivate them to try harder. Thanks for sharing. I am looking forward to adding your blog to my resource links.
Posted by: Childcarebusinessowner | November 18, 2011 at 08:21 AM