Being a Perfectionist

Here I would like to talk about what it means to be a perfectionist, and how the rest of the world perceives a perfectionist.

Let me start of by saying, nobody is perfect, including the perfectionist - the degree of imperfection varies. Perfectionists are more of an anomaly than the norm. I was recently talking to a great friend of mine who is, as I am, a perfectionist. We started as colleagues and turned into great and trusting friends. One of many reasons we had a great working relationship that turned to great friendship is that we understand each other. As I was talking to her, I realized a lot about myself and how the rest of the world sees us. When we do a piece of job or deliver a product, we want to ensure it is perfect. We are masters in picking holes. We are just as hard on ourselves as we are on others which could be troublesome for many! A few weeks after a “perfect” job, we revisit our own work and wonder how we could get away with such a sloppy job. That’s how we think and operate. We never have a problem working with the people of our own kind, but the rest of them have trouble with us. They think we are insane, nitpicking, and/or controlling.

What I have come to realize is that a piece of work need not be perfect from our perspective – just from the perspective of the recipient of the work product. The rest of the world doesn’t care about the perspective of a perfectionist if the perfectionist doesn’t care about the rest of the world. So, with that thought and realization, I respectfully submit the following.

Define the term perfect from the perspective of the users of your work product. What is the acceptable level of perfection to your users? If your work product is a document, does it address all the areas required to realize the purpose of the document, without confusing the reader? Does your work product meet your customer’s minimum requirements/needs? Once you answer these questions, you have your parameters defined. Anything more, is more than required and the customer doesn’t care.

A good way of verifying if you, or someone you are directing/working with, did a perfect job is to ask the customer. Review your work product with one who actually is going to use it. If it satisfies the end user (not you, the initial reviewer or project manager), the work product is at an acceptable level of perfection. If it does not, do not speculate as to what is below the level of perfection. Ask the end user again, correct it and re-review. As a general rule, if the work product leads to more unanswered questions or confusion for the customer, it is not perfect. Typically, for a job well done, you would not require more than two such iterations. However, after several such iterations in concert with the end-user/customer, you have a perfect product or deliverable without upsetting the rest of the world. What’s more, the user actually cares about and appreciates the perfection. Remember! Your customer, not you, says whether the work product is perfect or not.

Note to Self: Learn to let go of being a perfectionist from your perspective. Learn to identify and deliver acceptable levels of perfection from your customer’s standpoint. Make it so.