Recall school times - exams, tests, dictations. What did our work
look like then? Each mistake was highlighted in red - it focused
attention. What I did well remained intact, disappeared in the
background while errors came to the fore. Over the years of education,
we've been taught that mistakes should be avoided at all costs.
What
is perfectionism? In this way we were taught at school - avoiding
mistakes at all costs, transferred to other aspects of life than school.
The whole reality is full of errors, it does not meet the expectations
of perfectionists, including me. Striving for perfection, he almost
always finds something flaw, imperfection in what he does. On the other
hand, it is a source of great tension and stress, a very tempting
prospect of creating something perfect, perfect, once and for all.
Perfectionism
seems to be a useful character trait - it is characterized by
ambitious, precise, focused people who need to be reached.
Unfortunately, on the other hand, perfectionism is toxic, a lot of
energy is lost, avoiding mistakes. Even worse, perfectionism spreads to
all of everyday life, including interpersonal relationships, and does
not save self-esteem.
The relationship between perfectionism and procrastination
We
all know when we are dealing with procrastination - we postpone
unpleasant work for later, doing other activities (for example, I will
clean the bike of dust, instead of writing a mandatory blog post).
Perfectionism works a little differently - I'm never ready to do
something or the current situation is not quite favorable: it is not the
best time to change jobs, see a doctor, enter an investment.
Through
my studies I have mastered my perfectionism - there were really many
projects that I would be satisfied with. I was much more satisfied with
the positive assessment and no need to spend extra money.
Please watch a short film about perfectionism.
https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_curran_our_dangerous_obsession_with_perfectionism_is_getting_worse#t-410727
Do you see the perfectionist features? Are you fighting or cherishing them?
Or maybe you work with a perfectionist? How would you rate cooperation with such a person?
Unfortunately I'm not perfectionist. I tend to start one thing and get bored very quickly. If it happens I usually finish the task as quickly as possible and start new one without going into details.
ReplyDeleteI used to work with one perfectionist, though and it wasn't that bad. If I did any mistake, he would tell me about it quickly so we avoided many serious problems afterwards. I believe one or two people of this kind in the team is a good way to keep the project bug-free. It may be troublesome if there's majority of them, since it'd be difficult to deliver anything on time.
I think that sometimes I am kind of perfectionist. When I do something it's hard for me to recognize the moment where I should say "enough" and stop caring about details. Sometimes it can be inconvenient but sometimes it can also be an advantage. I don't fight with that, but I try to keep it in "normal" level to not allow it to make my job difficult. I think that I work with people who also try to do their job as good as it is possible, but I don't think that I work with perfectionist so I can't say how I rate cooperation with such a person.
ReplyDeleteI think that I'm a perfectionist to some extent. But I'm 100% sure that the best way is to be able to be perfectionist when it's needed but also be able to forget about it and accept things in 'worst' condition. I can't say that I'm able to balance it because I often impulsively try to align things on my desk for example. On the other side, when I have bad day, I see no problem at all in small mess in my room. What I have to agree is the fact that when you try to be perfectionist to much, it may harm your body and mind health as also your coworkers or family.
ReplyDeleteI do consider myself a proper imperfectionist, and I'm very glad of that; paradoxically, giving myself room for imperfection gives me room for improvement, which is essential for progress. I do believe that making mistakes and letting ourselves accept the imperfection of what we do lets us draw conclusions, prompts reflection and helps with self-acceptance. It is obviously not that uncommon to find perfectionist co-workers in the IT industry, and I do believe that the most important thing while working with such a person is to set precise boundaries of this perfection, for the sake of getting the job done, without the loss of quality and time/resources at the same.
ReplyDeleteI found the lecture pretty amusing and precise - especially the bit about "socially prescribed perfectionism" and how perfectionism can cause psychological difficulties within young people.
As someone mentioned previously, I do also leave some space for myself to fail. I'm really excited to start new things, I like to polish the tasks that I find challenging but as long as I lose interest in them I don't care anymore. I'm trying to work out on it, because you need to be dedicated to succeed but on the other hand there's healthy to say "enough!" sometimes. It's worth finding a balance between pushing yourself to deliver quality product and setting the boundary where 20% more is not worth the time you would spend on it. The question about fighting vs cherishing is not a boolean one. As I mentioned you need to get few steps back to see the big picture and make a decision what is best for you for longer period of time. At work I've never faced working with TRUE perfectionist - I guess most of the trouble-makers are just the people with huge ego. But I think if I would ever met the true one it might be equally challenging and fun.
ReplyDeleteI show a tendency to perfectionism. Despite this fact, I consider it a disadvantage. Perfectionism has its roots in the fear of making mistake but the truth is that mistakes are an inherent part of our lives. That’s why we should strive to avoid perfectionism. It’s one of those things that prevents us from achieving our goals. We do not feel ready at the moment. Our project is not good enough. Not as it should be. Creators of agile methodologies discovered this fact and that’s why they try to embrace the state of “not being perfect”. Product is constantly evolving and it’s perfectly fine that it’s not ideal. It should be simply good enough. Neither more nor less. The point is to just try to be good enough and remember to become a little bit better every day.
ReplyDeleteI think I have perfectionist traits. I can spend more time on a task than I need, only to be satisfied with the work I have done. Although there are no perfect things, perfectionism pushes us to make everything we do as close to ideal as possible, which is why I believe that perfectionism is something good and I try to cherish the pursuit of perfection (yes, I know it's an exaggerated term). I believe that in many areas of life balance is the key to success and it also applies for perfectionism. It is often worth giving up on satisfying your own perfectionism for the higher goals or goals of the group. If someone puts personal goals over the goals of the whole team or group, then working with such a person is not the most pleasant and it does not apply only to perfectionists.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, I agree with you. But want to add few thoughts. I think that in our time the phrase "i`m perfectionst" is a sort of the trend. A lot of people like to said that, because they want look better than they are. In my life I met a few people who often trying to work more than it needed, but not effectively. They want to prove someone that they are really hardworking. I mean the category of people who like to show in instagram their "perfect life" etc. As example, they cleaning room before they shoot photo for insta. Actually, I think that true perfectionism is like a sickness. As you said perfectionism is really toxic and this category of people must fight with this every day. Their vision on life is black&white, is not entitled to mistake. I think that i never have met real perfectionist.
ReplyDeleteI wish I was a perfectionist, when I would respond to this blog on time. For me one of the problems has always been task managing. I think that we often try to be over ambious and find ourselves stuck with too many pending things to do, which creates chaos and confusion. We are stuck chasing deadlines and this makes our work messy and disorganized. I think, that during school year we are more used to ”people on top” scheduling our activities and the as soon as we step into adult life, we have to switch to being more self-reliable.
ReplyDelete