Perfection is the enemy of progress

When I talk about perfectionism, I’m not referring to those professionals who simply hold high expectations for themselves and others. Rather, I’m referring to those who fixate on achieving impossibly high standards, who fiercely criticise their own work and who see flaws and failure, rather than productivity and promise.

This isn’t conjecture or amateur psychology. The research is very clear. By way of example, an article published by Alexander Rozental on the US National Library of Medicine neatly summarises the literature and research on the negative impacts of perfectionism (in the context of the efficacy of treatment with cognitive behaviour therapy).

A study of over 40,000 American, Canadian, and UK college students found that between 1989 and 2016, the proportion of people who identified as being perfectionists increased by 33 per cent. Other studies found that almost 30 per cent of undergraduate tertiary students experience symptoms of depression, and it’s surely no coincidence that social media use increased over this period of time!

And in the practice of law, toxic perfectionism not only impacts quality of life, but it’s also the nemesis of productivity. Doing my best to fairly reflect the academic research, and influenced by my lived biases, perfectionist professionals tend to:

1. Fixate on quality to the detriment of productivity;
2. Have a low tolerance for constructive feedback (God forbid, criticism!);
3. Are anxious, and can even become depressed (so the research says);
4. Are less creative and free-thinking – due to fear and rigidity in thought processes;
5. Avoid delegation (no one can do the task as well as they can);
6. Fear failure and are quick to make excuses.
7. Risk burnout.

So, what should leaders of professional service firms and their teams do in order to manage the growing issue of perfectionist paralysis? For what it’s worth, my tips, guided by the research I have seen, are:

1. Reinforce the obvious – that perfect is good, but done is better. Finished work creates more value than perfect work.
2. Build confidence in teams and encourage collaboration.
3. Encourage and reward innovation, even at the risk of failure.
4. Prioritise the making of decisions and the taking of actions (making an erroneous decision is better than making no decision).
5. Put supports in place for those who display maladaptive signs of perfectionism, before it becomes a bigger issue for them personally.
6. Ensure that our professionals are client-focused, accountable and conscious of value creation. For example: will spending another two hours on this document really have a material impact on value to the client?

Perfection has its place. But when it becomes a barrier to progress, wellbeing, and creativity, it stops being a virtue.

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Perfect is good. Done is better.

Value, not volume.

Excellence over perfection.

Travis Schultz is the managing partner of Travis Schultz & Partners.