Be Careful About Perfection

Do you have a tendency toward perfection?

I'm all about quality. As a basically analytical personality I strive constantly for perfection. The trouble I run into is that it isn't usually necessary to achieve perfection. Insisting on re-doing and revising repeatedly in pursuit of perfection can keep me from finishing something important.

I've learned to be careful about perfection.

My acting coach, Brian McCulley has a favorite expression "Done is better than perfect".

Maybe not always - but usually.

I've learned to move forward. To keep doing. And to finish. Things can usually be revised later, but it pays to get them done.

In many of my workshops I ask my participants to invent a game. The game has only two criteria for success: it much help us learn something about the workshop content, and it must be fun. It does not need to perfect. There isn't really any way the games they invent could be perfect. But they are fun, and they produce learning. It's amazing how creative people can get when they let go of the drive toward perfection.

Oh, I do want perfection in some things. And, I do continue to work to make things as perfect as possible. But, I've learned that perfection is a moving target. We don't even get close to the bulls eye until we send our arrows flying. Move forward. Work hard, Stay curious and creative, and put something out there.

Insisting on perfection will drastically reduce your choices.

And choices keep us growing.

What can you finish today that does not need to be perfect?

-- Doug Smith

Front Range Leadership: Training Supervisors for Success

doug smith training: how to achieve your goals

Comments

Measures Matter

Some people measure quantify first and quality later. Some people measure money first and impact to the team later (not even second!). How you measure productivity might determine your character and your reputation. Put people first. -- doug smith

New Ideas

New ideas won't break you but they can make you bigger. -- doug smith

Your Reputation

More authority means higher levels of responsibility. More power requires more service to others, not less. What you do with your power is who you will be known as. Also, how you use the power you have creates who people will remember you as. How do you want to be remembered? -- doug smith

What You Need

Use what you've learned to become what you need. -- doug smith

For example

Get good at something that won't obsolete itself. For example: emotional intelligence creating great conversations encouraging people leadership What would you add to the list? Which ones are you developing? -- doug smith

Personally

Improving performance does require us to take our work seriously. But it does not require us to take ourselves too seriously. Taking things personally is a waste of self-esteem. -- doug smith

Show Up!

"You've got to be there. Big decisions are being made!" my former boss told me a long time ago. "If your voice is in the room you might be heard..." It was good advice then and it still is. Show up. When there's a goal you're working on and an opportunity appears to advance that goal -- show up. When changes are being made that will affect you -- show up! When it matters to you -- show up. You won't always get what you want by showing up, but you never will if you don't! -- doug smith

The Problem With Compromises

Think about the last time you compromised on something. Whether it was a big compromise or a little compromise, how do you feel about it now? While we often call it "meet in the middle" it seldom does. Compromises are not automatically fair, no matter how implied that fairness is. Someone usually gets more out of a compromise than the person they are "compromising" with. If the low end is you, you don't like it -- and you remember that. If the top end of the compromise is you, you probably forget all about it even though the inequity simmers in the background. Compromises must be constantly revisited because they are inevitably unfair. If you get the chance to balance things out, your relationship will prosper. If you miss that chance, the relationship will suffer. What's your choice? -- doug smith

High Performance Leadership Combination

We can rationalize anything without making it justified. Leaders should always ask: who is this good for other than me? High performance leadership does NOT mean performance at any cost. It means performance that serves a noble cause while also benefiting people. High performance leadership is a combination. Results without relationships are shallow and temporary. Take care of both, and you'll be a high performance leader. -- doug smith

Decide

What do you want? Are you getting what you want? Intention is direction. Decide. And, then go. -- doug smith

High Performance Leadership

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