At first glance, perfectionism is a good quality. In practice, the constant pursuit of excellence brings more problems than results. Endless revisions, fear of mistakes, delays in launching projects – all this prevents business from developing.
As a result, the entrepreneur spends time not on growth, but on attempts to achieve an unattainable ideal. Let’s look at how the manager’s perfectionism affects the business and the team.
Loss of time and resources. Remember how in school we could spend hours rewriting an essay so that it was “perfect”? In business, it looks the same. Endless edits, revisions, striving for an unattainable ideal – all this eats up time and resources.
Procrastination and fear of mistakes. “It’s better not to do at all than to do poorly” – this is how perfectionists think. As a result, tasks are postponed, projects are delayed, and chances are missed.
Missed opportunities. While I was striving for the ideal, competitors were already launching their projects. As you know, the best is the enemy of the good.
Manager and team burnout. When I was controlling and focusing on every little thing, I felt like a squirrel in a wheel. And my team? They worked under constant stress and tried to meet inflated expectations. As a result, everyone was tired, and motivation and productivity decreased. There was a feeling of a pointless race for the ideal.
How else does perfectionism affect a team? Once I heard from an employee: “Anya, I’m afraid to offer you an idea, because you’ll do it your way anyway.” This was a real blow to me. I realized that my perfectionism created a toxic atmosphere in which mistakes are not forgiven, and initiative is punishable. The team ceased to be a team. It turned into a group of people who simply followed my instructions. And that was my mistake.