Would the people you lead say that you are a perfectionist? Would you<\/em> say that you are a perfectionist?<\/p>\n

The Perfectionist in Action<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re a perfectionist, you are probably well aware of the implications that creates for you in the workplace. You probably get less done than others (or you work more hours to get the same amount of work done).<\/p>\n

But the quality of your work is stellar, which allows people to be able to count on you. Knowing that you will get the job done and that it will be done well helps people trust you. And it\u2019s no secret that trust matters a lot for a leader.<\/p>\n

The (High) Cost of Perfection<\/h3>\n

But, what is perfection costing you? The incremental amount of effort it takes you to achieve perfection often has a sharply diminishing return. You may be spending more time on the last 10% of a task than the first 90%.<\/p>\n

And if you are truly a perfectionist, you have probably been one your entire life. So you are attuned to the implications to you personally.<\/p>\n

But do you recognize the impact your perfectionism is having on your organization? You probably expect from others what you expect from yourself \u2013 and in many cases, that level of perfection may simply be very expensive.<\/p>\n

So, are you fostering a perfectionist culture? An environment where work needs to be perfect? If that\u2019s the case, then you may experience the following implications which can get in the way of your organization performing at its highest level.<\/p>\n

\n
• Low efficiency<\/li>\n
• Low productivity<\/li>\n
• Risk aversion<\/li>\n
• Lack of innovation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  Don\u2019t Sacrifice Performance for Perfection<\/h3>\n

  As a perfectionist leader, what can you do to make sure that your organization doesn\u2019t sacrifice performance for perfection? Simply put\u2026make it safe to not be perfect.<\/p>\n

  Here are some practical tips:<\/p>\n

  \n
  1. Lead by example<\/strong>. As hard as it may be, recognize when the extra effort to achieve perfection isn\u2019t worth the incremental gain.<\/li>\n
  2. Help people understand the parameters<\/strong> of acceptable risk<\/strong> for the organization. What type and magnitude of risk are they allowed to take?<\/li>\n
  3. Routinely ask about the theoretical 90% solution<\/strong> \u2013 what would it look like, how much less would it cost than the 100% solution, and what is the impact of not achieving the final 10%?<\/li>\n
  4. Reward smart failures. <\/strong>\u00a0Did you know there is a way to fail successfully? (Yes, I see you perfectionists out there covering your ears!) Seriously, though, expect failure once in a while. It happens. To learn a few useful tips to \u201cfail successfully\u201d, visit this<\/a> article.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     If your organization exhibits a perfectionist culture, then you are probably leaving some performance on the table. The challenge is to ensure that each percent of effort is accompanied by commensurate value. Once you have done that, your organization will be operating at its highest level of effectiveness. It may not be perfect. But that may be the best. Imperfectly<\/em> perfect<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

     Would the people you lead say that you are a perfectionist? Would you say that you are a perfectionist? The Perfectionist in Action If you\u2019re a perfectionist, you are probably well aware of the implications that creates for you in the workplace. You probably get less done than others (or you work more hours to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,6,7],"tags":[198,175,40,197],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1132"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1132"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1135,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1132\/revisions\/1135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}