Seeking Perfection
acrylic painting on canvas/ 20” by 24”/ $ 399.
I have decided that perfectionism can be a curse. (Please don’t let my doctor hear that.) I imagine Olympians are not interested in this line of reasoning either. But as a parent and business woman I find that perfectionists create problems.
When I first started my museum in Michigan I hired an exceptionally talented woman to direct our education programs. She worked hard developing class curriculum and demonstrations that she gave to spellbound visitors. Her difficulty was in working with a team of people, many of whom were not as quick to grasp issues or creative solutions. She paid attention to what other staff was engaged in and was certain that she could do their jobs better. As a result of her disappointment in those she worked with she tackled evermore projects. Eventually she burnt out and quit.
This woman taught me an important lesson. It is important to maintain perspective by assessing progress periodically rather than daily when evaluating overall performance. I realized that people make mistakes and getting angry or being unforgiving is not a way to improve achievement or moral. She made me realize that my job as administrator was to teach, prod and inspire others to improve.
I noticed many workers arrive on the job reluctant to try new approaches because they feared failing or getting fired. They were docile and in the shadows as they went about their work. Their perfectionist brains clamored loudly saying, “ you won’t succeed if you try a new concept . . . you are a loser.” Perhaps these individuals were ridiculed at one time or another for spending time on “crazy or unproductive,” ideas. Maybe they had parents who told them, “you don’t do anything right! You will always mess up. That’s just the way you are. ” Those words are likely to produce insecure and timid adults afraid of tackling new ventures.
Or, they may have been more of a risk taker but lost money trying to get a new venture off the ground. Perhaps their self-image was destroyed and they became fearful of trying once more. At times public pressure keeps people from testing solutions to problems. Politicians are of good example of those who fear that “the other side” will be quick to say an idea won’t work. Opponents look for power plays and the media has great fun elevating potential failures to lofty heights even before they are tried.
The difficulty with the above scenarios is that failure is often a precursor to success. Scientists experiment with ideas over and over again, making adjustments because of failures. Years can be spent pursuing an idea even though disappointment results often face the investigator.
In 1937 a Bell Labs scientist named George Stibitz used relays in a demonstration adding machine. The same year a German engineer built his Z2 computer using telephone company relays. Building on these trials David Packard and Bill Hewlett played around in their garage, overcoming one failure after another before inventing the 200A Audio Oscillator, a piece of test equipment for engineers. In 1940 Walt Disney Pictures took a risk by ordering their 200B model to test recording equipment and speaker systems for newly equipped theaters in order to show “Fantasia.” Each of these entrepreneurs spent hours taking risks, often failing before developing societally useful applications.
I wonder what their families thought of their early frustrations. Did they say, “Honey, what you are doing is well and good but you need to spend your time making money to support our family.” Did they turn to their friends and say, “ She’s such a nurd, never doing anything practical!”
Penicillin was accidentally discovered by Alexander Flemming, Professor of Bacteriology at St. Mary’s Hospital in London. In the 1940’s he had just returned from a holiday in 1928 when he went to his lab. Sorting through petri dishes of Staphylococcus bacteria (the one that causes boils and sore throats), he noticed something strange in one dish. In a spot where a bit of mold was growing the Staph colony had disappeared. It took ten years of further study and research at Oxford University to turn what Flemming discovered into a life saving drug.
These men focused on their goal even though they did not achieve immediate perfection. They were curious and pursed a dream. They didn’t worry about what everyone else was doing or saying, but concentrated on their own work. As they looked for answers they weren’t stymied by perfectionist insecurities.
My life too has been filled with failure but each one taught me something to treasure. Though I keep wanting to help my children avoid my mistakes I have come to realize that they need to reach out and learn on their own. The best I can do now is support them in their endeavors, overlook their failures and encourage them to use boldness in following their ambitions.
http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/computers/ – history of the computer
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For sale on Amazon by Marilynne Eichinger: The True Story of Streetwise, overcoming homelessness and beating the odds. Go to AMAZON .
