Perfectionism doesn’t sound inherently wrong. We’re taught to strive to do our best and to be our best. Working towards making a project or ourselves as exceptional as possible seems like a worthwhile pursuit. The problem with perfectionism is that you are not striving towards high standards, you are reaching for impossible standards.
Dreams Don’t Always Make Great Goals
It is one thing to dream about walking on the moon; it is another to make that your goal. The aims of the perfectionist are so out-of-touch with reality that every aspect of their life suffers for it. Nothing can ever be good enough because that which will satisfy them is always out of reach. Even if they did manage to step foot on the moon, they would complain that it isn’t Mars.
Consequently, the work produced by a perfectionist rarely excels. Due to their constant desire to turn even the most trivial of tasks into something more significant, they often fall behind when compared to somebody with more reasonable goals. If you have two people working on the same project, the one with a good work ethic and analytical mind who can plot their way from A to B is far more likely to finish the project than the incorrigible perfectionist who has planned their way from A to Z.
Perfectionists Rarely Produce Perfect Work
Worse still, even given a deadline, the perfectionist will produce mediocre work when compared to the realist. Due to their overall unhappiness, perfectionists are likely to procrastinate. They spend so much time thinking about how to make a project meet their unrealistic expectations that they never commence work. When the deadline rolls around, they find themselves doing a rushed job. Inevitably, even if the rushed job meets the requirements of the Project Manager, it will not meet the standards of the perfectionist.
Another problem caused by procrastination followed by rushing is the perfectionist’s knack for turning things around on others. They will argue ‘If I just had more time!’ or ‘The Project Manager didn’t understand my vision’ rather than accept responsibility for procrastinating.
Procrastination Leads to Panic
We all procrastinate from time to time, but think about why we do it? Procrastination is usually the result of needing to complete a task that seems trivial or tedious. If something fails to excite us or interest us, then there are times when we will put it off until absolutely necessary. If you’re a perfectionist, projects cease to excite you because you know that your goals are unrealistic. When you cannot achieve what you wish, the easy solution is to ask ‘why bother?’
The mounting feelings of failure the perfectionist feels often leads to paralysis. Eventually, because of the continued procrastination, the perfectionist begins to feel like they are lazy, or they lack that certain something that more successful people have. Self-criticism is an important skill to help us learn and develop, but not when it is used to demean, belittle or humiliate ourselves. If you went into work every day only to be told you were a failure, you would rightly begin to feel bad, and your work would suffer. If you hear that from yourself, day after day, then you will stop doing anything. You will become, effectively, paralysed.
Overcome Paralysis
If any of this sounds like you, or somebody you know, then it is time to start learning or teaching that perfectionism is not a great attribute to have. The greatest motivator any of us can have is the genuine feeling of having done an excellent job. There is nothing wrong with aiming to make your mark on your next big project but there is something deathly wrong if you are not moving forward because of self-imposed insurmountable odds.
As I like to say, focus on being productive, not busy. Do not let yourself get stuck in the planning stages but move forward bit by bit, each day. You should soon realise that the very best projects are the ones that you actually start.
