We do a lot of takes, and our producer edits them together so that we sound like ourselves, but pithier and more polished. We're talking about why we should not be striving for perfection in our work,. And how to let go of unrealistically high standards for ourselves. Also talk about how to mentor someone who's a perfectionist.
If you’ve worked your way up in a competitive field — or are anxious by nature — you may have perfectionist tendencies. Maybe you’re a hard-driving, obsessive worker who thinks a task is never quite done. Or maybe you’re avoidant, struggling to start a project because you want it to be done just right.
We all know society holds women to a higher standard than men and rewards us for not making mistakes. But internalizing other people’s expectations — or what we think they expect — will only burn us out. To keep rising in our careers, we need to get in tune with our own standards for what’s a good, or good enough, job.
It is possible to keep our perfectionist tendencies under control. We talk through tactics with Alice Boyes, a former clinical psychologist turned writer and author.
Our HBR reading list:
“How Perfectionists Can Get Out of Their Own Way,” by Alice Boyes
“How to Focus on What’s Important, Not Just What’s Urgent,” by Alice Boyes
“How to Collaborate with a Perfectionist,” by Alice Boyes
“Perfectionism Is Increasing, and That’s Not Good News,” by Thomas Curran and Andrew P. Hill
Get the discussion guide for this episode on our website: hbr.org/podcasts/women-at-work
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Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org
Our theme music is Matt Hill’s “City In Motion,” provided by Audio Network.