The Imperfections of Perfectionism

DJ Smith / Sep 15th / Comments

Peter Bregman, author of Point B: A Short Guide To Leading A Big Change and CEO of the global management firm Bregman Partners, Inc., recently wrote a great blog post titled How To Escape Perfectionism. Having often felt the pains of being a perfectionist myself, I was immediately intrigued with the antidote Mr. Bregman offered for those of us who suffer from the condition.

One of Mr. Bregman’s more insightful observations is one that I have seen all too often in management – especially marketing management. Mr. Bregman writes, “Perfectionists have a hard time starting things and an even harder time finishing them. At the beginning, it’s they who aren’t ready. At the end, it’s their product that’s not. So either they don’t start the screenplay or it sits in their drawer for ten years because they don’t want to show it to anyone. But the world doesn’t reward perfection. It rewards productivity. And productivity can only be achieved through imperfection. Make a decision. Follow through. Learn from the outcome. Repeat over and over and over again. It’s the scientific method of trial and error. Only by wading through the imperfect can we begin to achieve glimpses of the perfect.” Mr. Bregman goes on to offer three ideas to help you escape the trap of perfectionism. I’d like to paraphrase his ideas as I see them relate to marketing.

1. It’s more important to start your marketing efforts than waiting until everything is just right.

I remember sage advice that was given to me early on in my life. People would tell me if you wait until you have enough money to get married or to have kids you’ll never do either one. The same principle applies to the perfectionist in marketing. Sometimes we agonize over the details, fearful that any unsettling detail will result in the campaign faltering. However, any marketing plan, no matter how well thought out it may be, will have to be flexible enough to account for the imperfections that will show up as the campaign is rolled out. When we accept that our marketing plans aren’t flawless, we’ll begin to develop better plans.

2. You’ve got to learn to trust your own marketing skills as much, if not more, than those you follow in print or online.

One thing I’m happy to say I learned in college was how to learn. I enjoy gleaning insights from “experts” in the areas that I find interesting. With the Internet, there’s certainly no shortage of information to absorb in the quest for perfection. Still, there’s comes a point when the information becomes echoes. The noise starts sounding the same and offers nothing new. It’s during those times when we have to accept that we have enough “education” to proceed with our efforts. We have to learn to accept and be comfortable with the thought that our own minds are equipped with enough knowledge to get the job done. After all, the powers that be won’t be so patient as to allow you to read a library’s worth of marketing books before you execute.

3. You have to learn to listen to the right voices and then be the right voice.

With the coming of age of social networking, there isn’t a shortage of experts, gurus, divas, and super humans when it comes to … well, anything. Everyone knows how to make you the perfect marketer, both on and offline. However, you need to be very careful who you listen to. Feedback from someone trying to get into your pocketbook or someone who doesn’t have your best interest at heart isn’t worth listening to. Likewise, you need to make sure that you are the sort of manager who is worth listening to. You want to become the wind to your team’s back and not a hurdle.

A former manager I worked for told me once that the founder of the company we worked for liked hiring workaholics. The founder felt that workaholics would always get the job done. I’m sure there are other business leaders who enjoy hiring perfectionists. However, I agree with Peter Bregman in thinking that I have to escape perfectionism if I want to really get the job done for my team and for our clients.

Until next time … keep your pulse strong.