I used to be a perfectionist. Maybe it’s the fact I was in journalism, which is drenched in facts, solid sources, grammar, and trying to never make an error. But early on in my career, I would try and craft the perfect marketing communication, the perfect PR release, the perfect blog post, the immaculate About Us page, the spotless product description, and even the perfect internal email. I would fret over proper grammar (ok, I still do that sometimes), the use of a colon or semi colon, where to put a comma, how many spaces to put between words and paragraphs. I would re-read something and change the tiniest of things, and then wait another day or week to publish and push out work in case I wanted to make more changes. I would ensure each shadow of each product we photographed was 100% perfect. Editing would take a little extra with all the minute changes needed. When you get down to those details, the minutiae, it can all be subjective.
What’s Your Greatest Weakness?
You know when you interview you for a job and the interviewer asks you the question about “what’s your greatest weakness?” or “what do you most need to improve upon?” I would always give the “I tend to be a perfectionist, so some things take longer to complete” answer. I thought it was a decent “negative” response to give. But it’s one I can give no more.
Over the last few years or so, I’ve realized that I would rather get to 80% or 90% of really good, in everything I do, than wait for perfection. I think it makes my life easier, and I think those on my team, past and present, would agree (I can see them nodding as they read this).
