A blog a day (#22)

PERFECTION

Is it good to aspire for excellence in one's activities and seek perfection in whatever one is doing? Does Excellence equate Perfection? If not, what are the differences? Let us try and examine them. In this blog, I will be attempting to reference some published material to understand these terms.

We will not be referring perfection with respect to sciences since there are perfect numbers, perfect models, etc in sciences. I am confining my blog to perfection in carrying out tasks or being part of process in any organisation.

Perfection is a state, variously, of completeness, flawlessness, or supreme excellence (Wikipedia - Perfection). So perfection can be understood as something that is impossible or extremely difficult to improve upon. As an Industrial Engineer, I am always led to believe the axiom, "there is always room for improvement".

Since the definition of Perfection contains the term, Excellence, let us also look at how Excellence is defined. Excellence is a talent or quality which is unusually good and so surpasses ordinary standards. It is also used as a standard of performance. (Wikipedia - Excellence). Now this definition is more to my liking, since it does indicate that there is no room for improvement. 

There are Business Excellence award systems in vogue in various countries and I have been part of a team that was tasked to design and implement Business Excellence award system in Oman when I worked in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry there. Among the many criteria there, one important aspect that we looked at were the processes for identifying areas of improvement and implementing those improvements with quantitative measures in place to show the extent of improvements completed. 

Aamir Khan is often referred to as a perfectionist and that moniker is given by the media to him for the way he approaches any role he undertakes - movies as well as TV programmes. Is he a perfectionist who, as per the definition we saw above, "flawless"? Arguably not. The blog is not about the actor, so let us stop with actor references here.

Is the goal of perfection good? Is it a healthy aspiration? What about the people around such persons? Do they have a pleasant life living in the presence of a perfectionist? Many psychologists advice us against the pursuit of perfection cautioning us that such behaviour leads among other aspects (Signs of perfectionist) to:

a. Expectation of perfection from others;

b. Struggling to complete tasks in which one doesn't feel one can do well;

c. Any mistake as a proof of inadequacy;

d. Any self worth depends on the achievement.

Do you still want to be a perfectionist? Or would you rather pursue excellence?