A couple of girlfriends recommended the book The Gifts of Imperfection, by Brene Brown. In her book Brown urges us to embrace self-love. She advocates “wholehearted living” which is facing each day with courage, compassion and worthiness.
These are beautiful concepts, but quite different from what I originally thought I’d find when I heard the book title. If I were to write a book about imperfection, I too would urge every woman to live a wholehearted life, and this includes your work life. Surprisingly, perhaps, I would urge imperfection at work. Let’s look at why:
In my experience, women work themselves to the bone being perfectionists. We take on a project and nothing short of absolute perfection can be delivered. Why? How many men do you know would jump through the hoops we do so we can get our A+ from our boss/colleagues/team? I can’t think of one. Men have figured out that 90% is not only the right approach, it’s actually better than 100%, because if you have something that’s good enough to deliver, you can then move onto the next thing – the next idea, project, or way of making money for your company. You can ask for forgiveness instead of permission on the small stuff, on that last 10%. (Note: certain professions like the medical field don’t have any small stuff, but most do.)
What does being a perfectionist do for us? It keeps us in the muck of a project, overthinking everything. Speed is such an imperative today to stay ahead of the competition, which includes those guys who’ve just run ahead of you while you’re making sure all of your columns are lined up perfectly, and while you’re re-examining every word that spellcheck just told you was fine.
Here’s another reason to be good with 90%: you make yourself, and everyone you work with crazy if you can’t let go of that last 10. You become the school marm. In your quest to be superhuman, you appear less human to those around you.
Lighten up. Lose the perfectionism. That’s my path to wholehearted living.
Susan: Thank you for this reminder. I stopped to ponder on speed vs. perfection. While “perfection” often gives me a greater sense of accomplishment, the reality is that speed and doing something “good enough” often satisfy the business need. And as you point out, satisfying the biz need on one project means I can move forward to the next. Great advice.