Stop Being Perfect, Start Being Excellent

Not every effort to achieve quality results in high-quality work. Some work methods improve the outcome. Others merely serve to protect the ego of the person doing the work.

This article is about the pitfalls of perfectionism and detail fixation, and about other, better ways of working.

Good work is not defined by the intensity of effort, perfectionism, or detail fixation. Good work is defined by the results it delivers to those for whom it is intended.

Unhealthy work styles focus on the ego; healthy ones focus on the purpose.

Ego-Driven Work

Perfectionism - “What does my work say about me?”

Perfectionism usually stems from one of two causes: fear or ego.

Perfectionism can be caused by a fear of criticism. It is not motivated by the value of the work to the recipient; rather, it is motivated by self-preservation. What if the result isn’t liked? What if the result fails? In extreme cases, this fear can paralyze the work to such an extent that it is never submitted; every tiny mistake and every opportunity for improvement is constantly sought out, and the work is never published.

At other times, it may be motivated by ego. The person in question feels the need to appear exceptional; they must do everything themselves, as no one else is good enough. They build up their own ego at the expense of others who can’t do “perfect work,” and believe they must constantly micromanage others. By announcing a perfect result, they tell others, “You must not dare to criticize anything,” because this person defines what is perfect and what is not. The work becomes inseparable from their identity.

There is a difference between “I care about quality” and “I do not tolerate flaws.”

The goal of perfectionism is therefore one’s own image, not the result of the work.

Detail fixation - "What Can I Control?"

Detail fixation can also stem from two factors: a sense of losing control or a lack of understanding of priorities.

Detail fixation is often a way of coping with a sense of losing control. When a person cannot cope with the complexity of life, focusing on minor, irrelevant details provides a sense of control. If a person feels that their life is controlled by their surroundings (a boss, partner, parents, etc.), focusing on minor, irrelevant details may be the only thing over which they feel they have any say. Such a person tailors the details to their own liking because, in this case, they can.

A lack of understanding of priorities can also be a cause of detail fixation. Instead of perceiving the whole at a strategic level, such a person perceives only their own little corner of the world, which then seems to them to be the most important thing. Their work must be given the utmost attention; everyone else “doesn’t do much, and it isn’t really important anyway.” This form, too, serves to bolster the ego.

Over-focusing on details confuses the amount of effort with the value of the effort.

The result of both these approaches is effort passed off as progress. The aesthetics of a solution take precedence over functionality, and micro-optimizations are implemented without assessing their impact.

The price of perfectionism and detail fixation is wasted time, increased solution complexity, and frustration among other team members and customers. The problem isn’t precision. The problem is the inability to distinguish between important precision and trivial precision.

Paths to Growth

There is another way of working - a better way of working. A way of working that focuses on the value of the output.

Standard - "What is essential?"

In this context, “standard” refers to work whose outcome formally meets the assignment’s requirements. The standard represents the absolute minimum.

The standard demonstrates your basic competence in handling the work. You are able to accept an assignment, understand it, and deliver the expected result. The standard defines a level of quality that can be relied upon. The standard is the foundation of trust.

The standard reduces cognitive load, enables better collaboration, and allows you to focus on bigger problems.

Without a standard, you have chaos; the standard provides predictable value.

Technical Excellence - “What Matters?”

Technical excellence is a way of working in which you know what you are doing, how you will do it, and why you are doing it. Technical excellence is the answer to the question: “How would someone who knows how to do it and cares about the result approach this task?”

Technical excellence is not an obsession; technical excellence is not art or creativity for its own sake. Technical excellence is concern for the needs of others, met competently and professionally. Technical excellence does not seek the absolute maximum. It seeks the right level of solution for a specific problem.

Technical excellence is applied empathy.

Technical excellence is doing things right for reasons that matter to the recipient of the result.

Mastery - “What Is Naturally Right?”

And finally, mastery. While technical excellence requires active effort and learning, mastery is natural and instinctive. You achieve mastery the moment technical excellence becomes the normal way you do your work. You don’t have to figure out “how” - you already know “how”; it’s ingrained through years of practice.

Mastery does not mean “increasing your effort”; on the contrary, mastery often looks effortless. Mastery consumes only as much energy as is necessary to get the job done. Mastery means an intuitive understanding of what is important and what is noise.

Mastery does not mean an obsession with quality; mastery means automatic quality.

The highest forms of work are not driven by fear, control, or self-image, but by an accurate perception of what truly matters.