Tackling perfectionism: six tips

Perfectionism can be described as the 'pursuit of perfection'.

A perfectionist will never be satisfied. They always have a very high standard for themselves. 

"When I do something, I do it perfectly."

Some of the 'symptoms' or expressions of perfectionism in the workplace are:

1. Constantly feeling that you are failing
2. Postponing tasks because you fear not being able to do them perfectly
3. Controlling behaviour, such as struggling to leave something to a colleague or delegate tasks
4. Spending a lot of time on relatively simple tasks, such as constantly refining an e-mail 5. Being overly concerned with small details

Muriel Hillenius, a Dutch trainer in the field of professional and personal development, recognises three different levels at which perfectionism can be fuelled:

1. On a personal level
2. At a social level
3. At the corporate culture level

First, the personal level. According to Muriel, this can be partly explained by evolution. “If you look at evolutionary psychology, you see that people have adopted different survival strategies," she says. 

"In the days of hunters and gatherers, it was essential not to be expelled from the tribe. One had a more relational approach: to keep everyone friends. The other mainly tried to keep his place in the group by making himself useful and always doing the work very well. So in that sense, perfectionism goes back a long way.”

Thus, the extent to which you have a knack for perfectionism can be partially explained by evolution.

Second, our modern society plays a role with nonstop 'performance pressure'. This is felt by all ages, ranging from young students to career veterans, and (social media) comparison can only fuel the flames.

Muriel: “An epidemic of perfectionism is taking place in the west. We all have to do everything in life perfectly, and that creates a lot of stress."

The last thing that comes into play in workplace perfectionism is the corporate culture often embedded within the dynamics of a team. 

According to Muriel, this is mainly a culture in which mistakes are punished. “If you are severely punished by your manager when mistakes are made, this can lead to perfectionism. This manifests itself in behaviour such as covering up mistakes, blaming others, or not daring to tackle things at all.”

At all three of the above levels, the group consciously or unconsciously plays an important role.

“A driver for people who want to do things perfectly for themselves is that they also want their environment to see that they are very good at what they do. Again, to be accepted by the group. Each of us wants to be part of a group or community and be able to add value to it. This also plays a role in the workplace, that people are always looking for appreciation. One way to get it is by doing things very well.”