Perfectionism
Are you a perfectionist? You know, are you the type of person who seeks completeness and flawlessness in every project and every single task you do? Do you obsess about the smallest of details, often times to the point of exhaustion? And does that often lead you to miss important deadlines, because “good” is simply just not “good enough”, at least for you?
If you’re anything like me, then you’ll resonate with symptoms of what’s called perfectionism. Being a perfectionist at work and college is something I’ve been very proud of, despite not being fully aware of it. Everybody I came to deal with including my boss and colleagues was impressed by the level of sophistication and professionalism I’d go about completing my tasks.
This, of course, also had its toll on me most of time. Long working hours in the office (by choice) trying to get that deliverable up to my standards and still meeting that deadline was the norm for me.
Then a couple of days ago I came across an article that was like a revelation. It made me realize that now I’m at this point in my career life where I have to make serious changes to my work habits if I want to be an accomplished person. This post is me trying to analyze that change and hopefully helping fellow perfectionists along the way.
I’m pretty sure you are probably wondering now: why is being a perfectionist something you would want to change? How does it ruin one’s professional life? Doesn’t it make you, I don’t know.. better than the others?
If you think about it (or have experienced it yourself) then you’d probably agree with me on this: perfectionism can get in the way of accomplishment. Well, at least a certain kind of perfectionism.
Neurotic perfectionism
In this life, there’s always the good and the bad, and when something good turn into a bad one, it’s because someone’s abused it.
Perfectionism works along the same lines. When abused, it turns into neurotic perfectionism. You’d know that kind when you notice:
- a constant need for approval from others.
- standards too high to achieve.
- endless anxiety about making mistakes with no way to cope.
- no role models of others who handle failures or successes well.
- your coworker’s office looking like this:
A common mistake people make is to associate any kind of perfectionism with neurotic perfectionism. As you’ll see later on, there’s a healthy kind of perfectionism that I think we all should strive to embody.
Does the world need perfectionists or achievers?
Think about this: which one of the following two (hypothetical) people is more likely to get hired in, say, a high-profile fortune 500 company:
- Niddeala is a college graduate, experienced .NET developer who has very professional attitude and delivers professional results. He is, to a certain degree, obsessed about maintaining the quality of work he’s known for, and thus spends an awful lot of time perfecting his job. His end-results are fabulous and quite often superior to his colleagues’.
- Reehsab is a college graduate, experienced .NET developer who has worked with several companies on various .NET-based projects, including ERP and stock charting. He has a track record of successfully completed projects which he’s proud of and uses as his main selling point during interviews. However, he lacks dedication for creating quality results (in programming terms, for instance, that means the last thing he worries about are code comments and documentation). He is simply happy to get the task done and start a new one, because let’s face, he will not withstand working on the same task for far too long.
Any experienced hiring manager should be able to spot the clear sign of difference in perfectionism during the interview. But which one would he pick? Surely that depends on many other factors, including the manager’s past experiences with perfectionists.
But let’s say the manager’s given a third choice. All of the sudden, a third person named Reedeala pops in. The manager, still not decided who to go with, gives this guy a shot at an interview. After all, his CV looks quite interesting.
Reedeala‘s work speaks for itself. His 4 year experience working for 2 high-profile companies and helping them deliver .NET-based solutions to the market is impressive. He considers himself “a go-getter with attention to details”. His work is often praised for promptness and completeness. His previous managers speak well of his professional attitutde towards business.
As you can see, Reedeala carries the best qualities of Niddeala and Reehsab (hence his weird name).
So what am I getting at?
Perfectionist + Achiever = Every employer’s fantasy dream
No, not that kind of dream.
It just means: Reedeala’ is getting the job.
The reason is quite obvious, and it’s really the point I’d like to make in this post:
The world is now looking for the best people who can accomplish their jobs and still manage to deliver quality results. Those people are capable of spending just the right amount of time and energy on every task at hand in order to produce their best possible work in the shortest amount of time, or for meeting deadlines.
The world isn’t looking for perfectionists who abuse the time they’re given for each task trying to satisfy their desire for attention by worrying about smallest of irrelevant details and things that are just nice to have.
And just as much, the world isn’t looking for uninspired, unmotivated people who just want to get by.
The world is looking for.. accomplished perfectionists!
In the next post, we will dig deep to find out exactly what makes an accomplished perfectionist, which is the term I’m using to describe the person who gets the job done with a higher than ordinary level of perfectionism.
Conclusion
Back when I was in school, we were taught this little ditty: Good, better, best, never let it rest, ’till your good is better, and your better is best.
But my experiences so far have forced me to pose this question: is “the best” always better than “good” and “better”?
In other words, there’s a line that we always have to draw somewhere between excelling at our jobs and going over the line to becoming neurotic perfectionists.
See you next time!
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Agree..
But I think it varies depending on the project / task…
What I’m trying to explain : it’s not always 50:50 (Perfectionism:Achievement) equation.
Also, this post is applicable in everyday’s tasks.
Fabulous post.. thank you :)
@Fakhri:
You’re absolutely right. I think I’ve missed the point you’ve mentioned:
The level of perfectionism you need to embody is highly dependent on the kind of job you’re performing. A classic example would be how much perfectionism do we expect from surgeons? I’d say 101%, if that’s even possible!
Great article! Myself being a perfectionist, enjoyed the read and wanted to contribute my ten cents.
I think perfectionism is not a one-time affair – it is a process. This processes can either be healthy or unhealthy. The process of perfectionism is healthy and can lead to professionalism when you perfect your skills through constant striving and accumulation of experience. As you mentioned in the article, perfectionism is attention to details and can be defined as professionalism. Once you master a skill, you are a professional in that skill. Once you master a set of skills that comprises your field and have adequate experience, you are a professional in the field.
Once perfectionism becomes a one-time affair, but not a process, it becomes what you call neurotic perfectionism. This is the case when expectations are unrealistic: you do not honestly acknowledge what you are capable of. This may lead to frustration, such as trying to achieve things that you are yet capable of. Frustration will lead to energetic exhaustion and drop in productivity. This, in turn, might either prevent completing a project or, even when completed due to external pressures, lead to dissatisfaction with the completion. This type of employee is not going to make a happy (read productive) employee, unless they change their habits.
From the practical perspective it is important to understand when the processes of perfectionism start to operate. When you are on the verge of a skill and you need to push further, this is the time when the “perfectionism” game is at play. If you deceive yourself at this point and do not acknowledge your limitations and the need to take time to hone the skill, this may either lead to neurotic perfectionism or quitting. On the other hand, acknowledging the limitation and assessing the time it needs to hone the skill and the degree that the skill should be advanced to is a sign of healthy striving. It will lead to successful accomplishment of the task. In addition, you will have a honed skill or a new skill under your belt.
Arman:
That’s a pretty interesting angle on the topic. Thanks a lot for your insight!
[...] in my last post about perfectionism, I’ve ended up posing a question: what makes an accomplished perfectionist? In other words, [...]
[...] I go through in life, I’ve learned that nothing can be perfect. I’m going to change my perfectionism lifestyle. If I’m looking for that perfect job at that perfect company, for instance, [...]
I’m glad i came across this article, a very positive read indeed
Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that perfection can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable. At such levels, this is considered an unhealthy belief, and psychologists typically refer to such individuals as maladaptive perfectionists.
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muskan
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blogging for a living-blogging for a living
Its true the world needs perfectionist.But nobody in the world is perfect,its practice which give rise to perfectionism.
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carla
———–Online Job———-Online Job
I love perfectionist.
This world need lot of perfectionist to make better.
i think perfectionist does’t want regulations violating
so? i love it. Never late for schedule and deadline oh my god i love it. But like carla said But nobody in the world is perfect… lol
I like having perfectionists around me, but I am not one. I like having them around to help me create a perfect project. I have never been super picky so it helps to have some friends that are!
At such levÂels, this is conÂsidÂered an unhealthy belief, and psyÂcholÂoÂgists typÂiÂcally refer to such indiÂvidÂuÂals as malÂadapÂtive perÂfecÂtionÂists…
hi there, at such levÂels, this is conÂsidÂered an unhealthy belief, and psyÂcholÂoÂgists typÂiÂcally refer to such indiÂvidÂuÂals as malÂadapÂtive perÂfecÂtionÂists…
Alaeddin,
I stumbled upon this posting. Although it was a while back, I still feel it important to let you know that the image you used is mine. I am flattered that you used it, but it is important to give credit. The information should read: Sarah Hobbs, Untitled (perfectionist), 2002.
Thank you,
Sarah Hobbs
How come there a word perfectionist if we all know that nothing could be perfect? I mean I know that doing the best in everything would contribute a lot to the betterment of society but some people are just sick of it. They go way beyond the line and people who are trapped into that just want to go out of that trap away from him. Too much longing for perfection is deadly for me.
Perfectionism is what i love, even though we all know it is hard to achieve a perfect one. Being near to perfect is far than good!