Treats

Words to the wise - See others

Resist obsessive perfectionism – understand what good enough (but still great) means

It’s important in your career to learn to strive for ‘great’ rather than ‘perfection’, because the latter will end up driving you crazy, adding unnecessary hours to an already crowded work week. It’s important to be aware of the diminishing returns factor that applies to a lot of the work we all do. The first 50% of the time you spend on preparing for a meeting, writing a report etc. usually gets you 90% of the way there. The remaining 50% of the time provides the 10% that gets you over the line. However, you need to learn where to draw that line as obsessive perfectionism will result in very little incremental benefit for any additional time invested. Time that you could be spending outside of work or working on other projects that are a more productive use of your time. Learn the difference between ‘great’ and ‘perfect’ and it will stand you in good stead.

“In the end perfection is just a concept – an impossibility that we use to torture ourselves”

- Guillermo del Toro, Film Director