What Is Perfectionism?

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Excellence-seeking perfectionists have high standards; failure-avoiding perfectionists fear making mistakes.

Telling people to stop being perfectionist backfires: Some dig in, others polish even more.

Treat perfectionism as a mindset, then ask when the setting helps the work and when it hurts it.

Not long ago, perfectionism was a badge of honor. When asked about a weakness, people would say, "I'm a perfectionist." Everyone understood the code: You had high standards.

Now, the same word carries a stigma. Many of my clients complain that their teams are too perfectionistic. People fear showing work in progress, so they keep polishing until they run out of time. By the time leaders see the work, they’re already frustrated—not only because deadlines have slipped, but because it requires more rework.

Perfectionism used to get you promoted. Now it gets you into trouble. But telling people to stop being perfectionists doesn’t help. It rarely works. Sometimes, it can even send the wrong message—as if you want them to rush the work or you don’t care about quality.

Why the Instruction Backfires

Take one of my clients. Decisions were delayed by analysis........

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