Issue 6: Perfectionism
Michael John Oliver
I help fintech and GRC firms use content marketing to build their brands, pull in leads, and own the conversation.
This is Reliable Sources, a marketing newsletter without all the 'marketing'.
Every week, I explore a topic related to the practice of marketing. I include things to read, to watch, to listen, and to attend to help you understand the prevailing thoughts and ideas of the topic.
But you won't find anything to do with marketing here. These sources are designed to inform, not instruct, your work. Think of this as auxiliary reading for your day-to-day.
Previous issues include:
"I have to say that I've always believed perfectionism is more of a disease than a quality," said Rowan Atkinson. A disease by any other name would be just as harmful, and yet in marketing (and in all manner of work) perfectionism prevails.
Campaigns are treated as a chance to one-up yourself; squeeze out more engagement, push for a better ROI. After all, this is the single most important creative project a marketer could do, right? R-r-right?
I've had dalliances with perfectionism. But my want was never about the work itself. It was perfectionism borne of ego. I wanted my work to be perfect so it would rub off on me. But that's the disease talking. The pursuit of perfectionism forces us to look for problems that aren't there, and insist that the work can (and must!) be better.
I've since realised the cure of perfectionism isn't one-upping myself, but realising when what I've done is enough.
This issue is all about that pursuit and the agonising depths creatives go in chasing perfectionism, and why it is almost never, ever, ever about the work, but the worker.
Perfectionism is on the march, argues psychologist Thomas Curran. It is "an indictment of neoliberal economics and the ultra-competitive, individualistic culture that has come to envelop us."
It is the underlying thesis of Curran's book The Perfection Trap. But the endless pursuit of perfection rarely leads to success and commonly results in anxiety, depression, and burnout. This interview with Curran about The Perfection Trap explains why the perfect thing to do is, in fact, to be imperfect.
"Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft."
American writer Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life is more than a how-to guide for would-be writers paralysed by perfection and expectation. It is a kind of call to arms for the creative soul.
Maria Popova's summary (where she also draws in other authors' thoughts on perfectionism) is just a joy to read.
What if embracing failure was... bad?
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In "In Praise of Failure", philosopher Costica Bradatan examines thinkers who spurned worldly success and instead embraced profound failure and suffering as paths to enlightenment.
Profiling activists like Gandhi and philosophers like Simone Weil, Bradatan argues that their perfectionistic pursuit of failure was often prideful and undemocratic. Far from a self-help manual on "failing forward", this book makes the case that true humility lies not in achievement but in embracing failure as an endless human struggle against arrogance.
I'm not wholly convinced by the point, but what I find interesting is the idea of failure as a form of perfectionism by stealth. After all, how many self-styled LinkedIn gurus are there posting their losses as "learnings"?
Trauma Rewired mines the inner depths of perfectionism, explaining how it relates to two interesting (albeit unsurprising) topics: trauma and CPTSD. The episode also examines the map between perfectionism and burnout, avoidance, freezing, and how it hinders trauma recovery.
The late Stanely Kubrick had a fierce reputation for repetition. He was renowned for putting his actors through multiple takes, and making no apologies for it either. "That was take 72. You fucked up. Do it again."
But many actors appreciated his fastidiousness and argue that it wasn't repetition for repetition's sake. The director knew what he wanted and didn't stop until he got it.
What: Online writing workshop, hosted by Blossom, about perfectionism.
Where: Online
When: 23 September, 4pm British Summer Time
Price: Pay-what-you-can
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Designing & Developing Recruitment Websites | Abstraction Labs
1 年Software development is similar. You have to strive for the code to be bug free, eloquent, fast and readable. But at the same time it's better to release something not quite perfect, then build on this than to never release anything until it's "perfect".