To err is human, to forgive divine. – Alexander Pope (1711)
Is your employee a perfectionist? If yes, is that good for him/her? Is that good for the company?
Firstly, let’s make a difference between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism.
Adaptive is a healthy type of perfectionism as long as the person is focused on the actual work, the one that really matters.
On the other hand, maladaptive is a negative type of perfectionism where a person is rarely satisfied with what he/she does and where everything that’s not flawless is immediately dismissed. The following lines are about it.
The problem with most perfectionists is that they give the same importance to each task and have so-called “tunnel vision” – they are focused on a small part of something and ignore the rest. This can slow things down significantly.
Moreover, perfectionists are always under a lot of pressure and when they make a mistake, they often punish themselves by saying they are not good enough and start questioning their own skills. This leads to internal blockage and even more stress. Unfortunately, they don’t see mistakes as chances to learn and grow.
Finally, they think that others are superficial if they don’t go “deeper”. But very often, going into unnecessary details, double and triple checking is not needed as perfectionists might think. This can create huge tension and nervousness within the team.
If a member of your team is a perfectionist and is aware that it is an issue, as a manager you should:
- Promote positive mindset when approaching all tasks. Speak about the importance of being in the moment, not overthinking about the future or constantly returning to the past.
- Agree about deadlines. Always give more time than you usually do. If you give less, perfectionist could make mistakes because of the stress. Ask questions, such as: Is the period of 3 hours enough for you to finish the task?
- Put him/her in a team with someone who is quite the opposite. It will be challenging in the beginning. They will need some time but in the end, they will learn from each other and find the right measure.
A few thoughts from our first lady Jelena Vuletić, ACC..
