During my one and only job interview in the corporate world, I was asked the go-to question:
“What is your biggest flaw?”
And while I’m not sure how others respond when asked this, I replied:
“I have a crippling problem with perfectionism.”
But looking back at that answer, is this really a problem?
I once thought it was my flaw. A sort of OCD I developed over time. I re-read everything I write over and over. I am compulsive about how & where I keep my possessions. And anything I do or buy needs to be Googled to ensure I’m making the right choice.
This all takes an excessive amount of time… But is it a problem?
The Perfectionist Entrepreneur
So let’s explore this. Does striving for that little extra create a problem within your life, relationships and business building efforts?
I’ll give you my thoughts, then open up the floor for debate. Cool?
Does it guarantee quality?
First and foremost, with all the constant nitpicking of my efforts, I have noticed that the end result is of extremely high-quality. While I understand nothing is perfect, striving for perfection has created some remarkable outcomes, far exceeding my initial vision.
Had I simply settled for ordinary – or even slightly extraordinary – I would never had accomplished a lot of my feats in life.
Can it minimize mistakes?
I despise the feeling of buyer’s remorse. And I especially dislike ending up with something I loathe. I would imagine we all do.
But when it comes to business decisions, striving for perfection is an extremely important skill. Especially when some commitments made in business are life altering.
Losing sleep before deadlines?
Nothing can ever be good enough. I often find myself up all night before a deadline tweaking my work. (And it’s not like when I was in school, procrastinating beyond belief until the night before a due date.)
These days, it seems like whatever the task is, I can’t stop thinking about it, refining it, adding to it until I absolutely must declare it finished. And while I’m not sure this is a flaw, it definitely isn’t enjoyable in the long run. Because there is always something next.
Will it up the image?
The perceived value rises as a result of the first three points. Whenever I spend ridiculous amounts of time working on something, improving the tiniest of details, it tends to be noticeably better.
For instance, when I was a web designer, I would have a site technically done in a few hours. But I would then sit for days, sometimes weeks, staring at the site’s design & code, searching for anything that I could improve. And this, as you can imagine, didn’t make me a terribly efficient designer. But it did make me extremely effective in delivery.
But is there diminishing returns?
The Law of Diminishing Returns seems to come into play here as well. And working too much on one project may result in quality declining. However, since I put strict deadlines on most everything I do, I luckily seem to rarely notice this.
Ultimately…
While I dislike the constant hassles, and the endless nights working much longer than I probably should on my projects, I thoroughly enjoy being a compulsive perfectionist.
What do you think?
Are you a perfectionist? If so, how do you approach work? Are deadlines the only reason you declare something finished?
And if you aren’t a perfectionist, what are your thoughts on those who overanalyze everything?
About the Author: Bradley Gauthier is co-founder of New Methods. And is passionate about helping big thinking entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. He has been a serial entrepreneur since the age of 12 when he created an online marketing firm. Connect with him on Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn & Facebook.
