Is Perfectiniosm a Good Thing? If you know how to actually get stuff done and don't let it paralyze you? Steve jobs was clearly OCDP in his approach to anything, but he got high quality products done. Musk is almost the same. When I look at companies it's those who are obsessed about every little detail that tend to do the best, particularly in tech. Thoughts? |
Yes, there are people whose perfectionism correlates with a bunch of other traits which are required for success and perfectionism (as someone recently diagnosed with ADHD, perfectionism to me is nothing else than hyperfocus).
But there are others for whom perfectionism is a detriment because they become inactive, overanalyze or become paralyzed without the ability to delegate.
Phobias are the most extreme form of perfectionism and it leads to people not leaving the home.
So as most often in life, you're looking at a curved distribution, not a deterministic rule or fact.
Yes, there is a top percentile of that curve, but for the rest, perfectionism doesn't correlate with overall success and it most certainly does not cause it in my experience.
The successful individuals I know are super happy to not care about a myriad of things which can go wrong or suboptimal in companies and products. They have the ability to prioritize and for the top 3-5 things, they are perfectionist.