Let me ask you a question: How many times have you missed opportunities and chances in your professional life just because you were waiting for everything to be perfect?

In my work as career & executive coach I often encounter professionals who tend to choose perfectionism as the way forward.  Perfect next career steps, perfect training opportunities, the perfect network, perfect timing and so on. Waiting for everything to be perfect often prevents them from progressing and achieving what they want to achieve.

Let’s have a look at both sides of the "perfect" and "imperfect" coin toss scenario :

Perfection is ideal.

It is the most desired end picture or result.

It ensures that we are not exposed to people’s criticism and finger pointing

It avoids the road of fear and uncertainty, the what if…

But perfection also takes time.

It forces us to focus on all the nitty gritty details.

It often prevents us from moving forward at the desired pace.

It gives us the expectation that only the perfect end result is good enough, even though it might not turn out to be what we  expected.

It often limits us to a finite and fixed mindset.

…and more

Imperfection on the contrary is not always ideal and does not always provide the most wanted end result at that time but:

It is a more courageous path to take

It gives us the freedom to present unfinished ideas.

It gives us the opportunity to gather feedback and opinions and achieve an even better end result.

It allows us to follow a path of confidence and openness.

It prevents us from wasting time on the nitty gritty details.

It gives us the opportunity to try a more dynamic trial and error and experimenting approach.

It gives us the freedom to work with an infinite and flexible mindset.

...and more.

I am not saying that perfection is not needed. There are many businesses, operations, projects and jobs where perfection is a must, we just have to put things into perspective.

What I am suggesting is that, where possible and where you see the opportunity, give imperfection a try and use it as a way to move forward for the sake of progress, growth and learning in an agile way.

What are your thoughts about the ‘road of imperfection’? Please let me know: Contact me