The Pathology of Perfection v Progress

I’ll readily admit I’m not a big Jeff Bezos fan.

Sure, I appreciate the convenience of my Amazon Prime account (and the adrenaline rush when our doorbell rings) and can marvel at the sophistication of AWS and Amazon fulfillment centre logistics.

But the recent phallic fallacy of “Space” missions and the stomach-turning stories of conditions inside those same fulfillment centres don’t sit well with someone who believes in the power of corporate culture and the force-multiplying impact of genuinely committed humans.

I’m currently reading?“Working Backwards” ?which has given me a richer understanding of the organization and the man.?

In particular, I now think Bezos’ does have an astute and enlightened perspective in one area that warrants admiration and applauses.

It’s the notion of progress over perfection.

?Of making decisions with 70% of the data rather than waiting for 90% before pushing the green GO button.

Of understanding that failure is inevitable, particularly if you’re doing something for the 1st?time. That the lessons learned, if documented, reviewed and internalized, can be an accelerant for better, faster, cleaner innovation the next time.?

Which is why I look around and remain incredulous at what I consider a worrying pathology of Perfection that still permeates so many parts of our society and our businesses.

Perfection is a myth.

It’s some Renaissance artist level of marketing that we’ve let take hold inside the collective bloodstream of our organizations and institutions without realizing just how much that virus is actually destroying the host.?

Perfection is, to my tiny worldview, an unrealistic aspiration that crushes and destroys all who fall short of achieving it because of some misguided narrative that they’ve let themselves, or their team, down in some terrible way.

Here are several examples I see frequently in my meandering walk through life.

Organizational strategies?that, as?Ronald Rumelt calls out so eloquently , are nothing more than a corporate “wish list” rather than something with the remotest chance of being executed (the critical part I discussed previously ) or remotely grounded in reality. They’re an attempt to portray a corporate infallibility or inevitability that’s sheer PR and pomp. A progress-oriented strategy on the other hand acknowledges known constraints and recognized parameters (like access to capital, emerging talent and the pesky reality that there are only 24 hours in a day) and even give a head-nod to Black Swans (hello global pandemic) that no genuine strategy would not have to meet head-on and have to adapt to.

Corporate value declarations?and bright shiny posters that declare an organizational Nirvana where, if we’re being brutally honest, are seldom a reflection of how decisions are really made “around here” and which behaviours are rewarded, ridiculed or worse tolerated and wilfully ignored. Progress-oriented values wouldn’t be drawn from the same, tired list of “of course you value Trust, you’re a Bank aren’t you?” and attempt to be honest about what we need done and how we need to behave if the strategy just shared is ever going to be executed well. Sure, the values can have an element of aspirational stretch and desire but please don’t give everyone coffee mugs that say “Great Ideas Come from Anywhere” when the brutal reality is that, in your organization,?brilliant ideas are only ever born from HIPPOs .

Corporate purpose statements?that, as the indomitable?Ron Tite skewered this week ?on LinkedIn, are just thinly-veiled virtue-signalling and woke-washing. Please stop trying to attach your “Cleans Better” detergent product to the International Transparency Index and congressional hearings on graft and corruption. Sure, if you’re a much-loved hippie ice cream manufacturer with a long documented history of political activism then you can decide where to sell your products and earn your revenues - or not – but the key three words are long..documented…history. Progress-oriented purpose statements (say that three times quickly) start closer to the unequivocal truth of your business not in some panacea-playground of corporate delusion. Your “Cleans Better” detergent would be better off tackling clean water issues and reducing the run-off of harmful chemicals into our rivers. Start there why don’t you.

Corporate leadership?that projects a level of omnipotence, infallibility and ego that typically has the business media salivating and armies of business-school graduates mimicking. Why? Why do we create icons like Welch, Kalanick, Neuman, Skilling, Warren whose rosy projections of hockey-stick growth, billion-dollar valuations and science-defying innovations leave behind decimated pension funds, destroyed workforces and obliterated investor savings. It’s easy to glibly say “well they’re narcissists” - and that’s certainly true – but their projection of perfection echoes and manifests in hundreds of similar actions and behaviours through all our organizations on the daily. The dangerous delusion of “hustle culture” and dumbass tweets glorifying “I get more done by 5am than you do all day”. The misplaced obsessions with presenteeism in our organizations exacerbated by endless video calls that seem more like a corporate roll-call than actually getting any bloody work done. And then there are?tragic stories of soldiering on ?and battling through it until your body gives you are sharp reminder, you’re not Clark Kent’s alter-ego.?

All of this is the pathology of Perfection.

An insidious, universal and dangerously flawed internalization that we’re the most intelligent species on this planet (science deniers??) and we’re modelled in God’s image (scan most beaches I dare you).

We’re not.

We’re messy, unfinished, emotionally driven, irrational and flawed.?

We leave the toilet seat up. Don’t put the toothpaste top back on. Fail more often than we succeed. Look for affirmation from all the wrong people and in all the wrong places. Smoke. Drink. Drive too fast and smile too little. Eat more than we should and sleep less than we need.?

Look in the mirror. Really look.?

Ask a friend for honest feedback. A real friend - and ask them to be real honest.?

Dollars to donuts what you’ll see and hear is imperfection. Opportunities for growth. And perhaps a few “For the love of God would you please stop the following…”?

That’s okay. You’re not alone.

Equally imperfect humans have reduced extreme global poverty by 60% since 1990, gave us more than 5 legitimate vaccines for a brand-new virus in less than 18 months, built electric alternatives to fossil fuels and, sure if we’re keeping score, thrust several phallic symbols into the sky in some weird billionaire boys-club show of excess.?

None of those are perfect.?

But they’re inarguably progress.

The most heartening story of progress for me this week came from the Tokyo Olympics and the much covered and celebrated Simone Biles story.

I’m woefully ill-equipped to write anything about the pressures faced by Olympic athletes, their mental and physical fortitude and commitment, or what it must be like to be as close to a state of mental and physical perfection that many of us could never achieve.

But here’s the progress I saw.

That her withdrawal citing mental health concerns was roundly applauded and rippled through the media as a sign of courage not capitulation.

That her teammates were universal in their praise of her. And, in a beautiful show of perseverance and poise, they finished by earning silver in their event without the high point scores that the GOAT would historically have contributed.?Several have spoken ?of having to dig even deeper into?themselves?on the cusp of her departure to find a well of confidence and self-belief that they might previously have not known about. That’s individual- and team- progress under adversity. Wow!!

Here’s the part that makes me most optimistic.

Simone Biles herself leaned into her own humanity and recognized she wasn’t ready. That continuing to compete ran the risk of real physical ruin for her and, quite possibly, would irreparably damage any chance her team would have. So rather than being guided by media idolatry and public perceptions of invincibility, she listened to her body. She accepted that she wasn’t, in this moment and in this place, perfect. And as a true leader and a world class athlete, she didn’t fight it, she embraced her imperfection* and made the smartest decision possible.

That’s real progress.

Now, my dear imperfect and wonderfully flawed reader, what aspects of perfection are you willing to re-examine? What failures and failings are you going to give yourself permission to accept? And, what in your organizations, your teams, your business and inside your colleagues are you now going to celebrate and reward with renewed vigour and appreciation?

Most importantly, what artifice of perfection inside yourself will drop?

Progress, not Perfection my friend.?

For some reason, this Instagram message from a 27-year old Justin Bieber to the 24-year old Biles struck a pretty deep cord too.

Progress, not Perfection.

Progress, not Perfection.