Seeking Perfection
I had a training manager who was one of nicest people I’ve worked for, and also one of the worst managers I’ve ever had. He was constantly chasing perfection in our new hire program for the national sales force. That was an unrealistic standard, but his pursuit of it caused him to control most aspects of the program and to change it every time it was delivered.
As his employee, it was exhausting and frustrating. He wasn’t getting enough data to make meaningful changes since the program was in constant flux. I felt that my talents were being suppressed. Despite his niceness, I left within a year, and the other trainer left before I did.
You’ve probably heard the aphorism “perfection is the enemy of done.” While many of us understand the truth of this, it can still be hard to let go of the quality measure we’ve set as the goal. Here are some things to keep in mind when you feel yourself being enticed by the vision of a perfect result.
The Pareto Principle (the 80/20 rule): It commonly takes 20% of the time to complete 80% of a task. The remaining 80% is spent on just 1/5th of the project. By accepting a “good enough” state, you may get some time back to apply to other valuable tasks.
The personal and fleeting nature of perfection: What’s perfect to you may not be perfect to your manager, client, or contributing employees. Chasing your version of perfection doesn’t mean that others will value the outcome in the way that you do. Also, work evolves quickly in many businesses, creating a short shelf life for any state of perfection.
Impact on your employees: When you chase perfection, you put unnecessary stress and unrealistic expectations on your employees. You may diminish their effort and quality work. You also take their viewpoints and creativity out of the process by forcing adherence to your vision.
That being said, there are circumstances where perfection is critical. When that’s the case, get buy-in by ensuring that everyone is clear on the reasons, the stakes, and what perfection actually looks like. And be certain that the need for perfection isn’t just coming from you.