Workplace Perfectionism Is A Flaw

Workplace perfectionism is often seen as a virtue. In fact, many people mention this skill during a job interview. However, seeking control of every little detail and perfection could be considered, on the contrary, a defect.

When a perfectionist person gets to work, it is possible to notice how this ability has more negative than positive aspects. For example, he will often fail to meet deadlines.

The article Workaholics undergo four psychiatric disorders addresses the theme of perfectionism as a psychological addiction which defines that “the fear of failure requires extreme control, a high level of commitment and an intolerance to errors”. For this reason, today we will find out what it really means to be a perfectionist person.

Perfectionism in the workplace causes health problems

An important aspect of perfectionist workers is that they end up suffering from health problems. Among them are frequent anxiety and stress, yet there are others:

• Difficulty delegating in the workplace. This translates into a greater burden of responsibility which translates into more hours to be able to complete their tasks.

• Inability to solve problems more effectively, due to a lack of clarity caused by excessive workload.

• More effort to relate to others, as work takes up 100% of the perfectionist person’s time, which reduces his or her social skills.

• Intolerance to errors, since the person goes over every detail several times so that everything is perfect (even if it is impossible).

These are some of the problems that can come with perfectionism. Overworked work, the inability to delegate and not having time to relate to other people are some of the reasons why stress and anxiety can arise.

To these emotions we must add the difficulty of enjoying free time, since work always occupies the minds of these individuals. As a result, they may feel impatient, irritable, and even manifest a visible lack of attention to their own needs, as our article on work addiction indicates.

Depression triggered by excessive control

As argued in several articles on the perfectionist personality and depression, extreme perfectionism can give rise to indecision or overly rigid and over-controlled behavior patterns, which could foster or lead to depression.

Although perfectionism at work is associated with people with ambitious goals, characterized by a desire for improvement, workers who don’t mind working overtime, when the moment of truth comes, we discover harmful behavior.

Not tolerating the error generates frustration. Perfectionists also tend to seek the approval of others and opinion on results is always subjective. Let’s take an example.

Let’s imagine a person skilled in manufacturing and assembling wooden doors. She has been doing this for many years, she is a perfectionist, she focuses on every detail and is not on the expected delivery date because she wants to make sure the door is perfect. It may happen that a customer does not like the result. Then, all those claims to himself will greatly strengthen the sense of inadequacy. 

Can you stop being a perfectionist?

Perhaps we have reached the most important point and that is to know if it is possible to mitigate perfectionism in the workplace, so as to minimize the consequences. What is certain is that it is possible; the point is that we must seek help and, above all, be aware of the fact that we are dealing with a problem, a limit.

When a person is a perfectionist and suffers the consequences, the first step is to seek the help of a professional. The latter will take care of planning the best intervention, the same one that in many cases will focus on the self-esteem problems that can fuel this “obsession”. A person who wants to be in control and who seeks perfection usually has very low self-esteem.

At the same time, the perfectionist can be given tools to relax, thus lowering the levels of energy expenditure and anxiety in those contexts where these traits manifest themselves most. With patience and a lot of effort, a perfectionist person may no longer suffer the consequences of this attitude. Do you think you are addicted to perfectionism? If so, what problems has it caused you?