Perfectionism is not going to help in times of change and uncertainty!

Aiming for perfection is exhausting, and whilst excellence is a great aspiration it can sometimes feel frustratingly elusive.

Being a leader in times of turmoil and uncertainty is challenging enough, but if you overlay that with feeling like everything you do has to be perfect then burnout and disappointment are likely to follow.

You will probably have heard one of these sayings or philosophies:

  • The perfect is the enemy of the good (Voltaire)
  • The 80/20 rule (Pareto)
  • The golden mean (Aristotle)

More recently Robert Watson-Watt (1892-1973), who developed early warning radar in Britain, proposed the “cult of the imperfect”, which he elaborated as “give them the third best to go on with; the second best comes too late; the best never comes.”

Since the COVID-19 lockdown I’ve seen examples in IT Operations of services going live in weeks, compared to the years they would previously have spent in development without ever seeing the light of day. In this respect necessity really can be the mother of invention.

But how do you avoid perfectionism and be happy with ‘good enough’?

I’d like to offer 3 thoughts on how you can reduce your exhaustion and your frustration:

  1. Do your best. Marshall Goldsmith, world famous Executive Coach, says “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that no matter how hard we try; we don’t always win. That’s ok. If you do your best, if you try, you are good enough!”
  2. What’s the worst that can happen? It’s not as bad as you fear (False Expectations Appearing Real). Trying to make something perfect risks it being late or never delivered. Waiting until the perfect time for a critical conversation risks missing the moment altogether – bad for your friend/employee. 
  3. The last 20% of perfection really will take another 80% of the time. Don’t be afraid of getting some feedback and making changes later. They are likely to be minor. If they’re going to be major, then better to get the feedback sooner rather than late.

Given that everything seems to be changing, requiring new ways of working and being, let this be the moment when you give yourself a break and allow yourself to be good enough.

You can call or email me to book a free introduction coaching session, and we’ll talk about how I can help you.