The story of Michael Jackson's life and death illustrate some of the devastating effects perfectionism can have. Not only did his perfectionism drive him to produce excellent music and concerts but it may have also driven him to work harder than he physically could.
Individual employees may be perfectionists. On the other hand, a sense of perfectionism can pervade an entire workplace. Perfectionism can stifle creativity and innovation and can create an environment full of fear and stress.
Employees who expect perfection of themselves or work in a perfectionist environment can end up behaving the following ways.
-limit risk taking
-produce work very slowly
-neglect to delegate or rely on others
-reduce collaboration with others
-make few new suggestions
-limit goals to what has worked in the past
-burn out under high stress
-work in an environment of fear
Michelle Drake writes, “perfectionists actually have a lot of trouble with procrastination.” She also “noticed that perfectionists have a tendency to be very, very critical of others' work as well as their own work."
Perfectionism can be reflected in the management style and the performance management system. If the general expectation is that mistakes cannot be made, then this needs to be remedied.
On an individual level, however, employees can take steps to reduce their perfectionist ways. Peter Bregman advises, “don’t try to get it right in one big step," “do what feels right to you, not to others” and “choose your friends, coworkers, and bosses wisely.”
As a manager, you can communicate the message that mistakes will occur and are a part of the learning process. Managers can encourage risk taking without penalizing employees for related mistakes and evaluate mistakes to find out what can be learned from the experience.
References:
Bregman, Peter. “How to Escape Perfectionism.” Harvard Business Publishing [www.//blogs.harvardbusiness.org]. September 1, 2009.
Drake, Michelle Yozzo. “Overcoming Workplace Perfectionism.” Michelle Yozzo Drake Communication Strategist [www.michelleydrake.com]. 2009.
