Perfection vs Control Freak
Have you ever had a day that you say to yourself, "Self, there must be a better way!" This happened to me last night.
The day before, at a meeting, it was pointed out that a perfectionist never gets anything done. He/she is always working to get to perfection. I'm not a perfectionist, far from it.
BUT I am a control freak. In my measly world, it seems I need to be in charge, controlling all the parts to make them work together perfectly. Oops, there's that word...perfection.
Here I was: stepping over, tripping over, climbing over those who know exactly what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and have the demeanor to get it done just fine, with a variety of other people who do the same thing I'm trying to do.
Allow me to digress. When I was a sophomore in high school, I took a very basic art class. Don Tredway was the teacher's name. He made jewelry in his non-teaching life. He really was an artist. I saw him at a Laguna arts festival, working with his jewelry,
Mr. Tredway was not the most creative art teacher. (Is that an oxymoron?) He ruled over his class demanding...quiet. He used to say..."There's a right way, a wrong way, and a Tredway." And that's how it went in his classroom.
I was pondering this. "Self, why do you think you know better ~ than those who really do know more than than you do ~ at their job?" I had no answer. And that was the answer! "Self, you don't know better."
I wrote to my colleague last night. "I give up! I'm going to let you do what you do so I can do more of what I seem to be good at!" That way we are working as one team made up of individuals, working as a whole; not as a bunch of parts trying to fit into each other's mould.
Mr. Tredway used a method for making his superb jewelry. It was called 'lost wax..' He showed us an example of it. From a rough exterior, that mostly looked slapped together, came the most amazing ring, which was perfectly formed inside the mould. Basically, when the mould is made correctly, wax is poured in to capture that shape. The wax is removed, the ring remains.
This morning I received an email from my associate saying she didn't think I was a control freak but rather more proactive! I hadn't even considered such a thing. And I don't want to. Put it to bed, say goodnight, leave it alone.
I'm still thinking about how some particular systems might be improved. But thank goodness I don't have to do it all. It is more productive, and perhaps fun, to have more similarly framed minds working together, than apart. And that's the idea...more heads...more production. Mr. Tredway made his point.
A right way, a wrong way, the Tredway.... or the highway. Hit the road, Jack.
Live richly, marilyn
The day before, at a meeting, it was pointed out that a perfectionist never gets anything done. He/she is always working to get to perfection. I'm not a perfectionist, far from it.
BUT I am a control freak. In my measly world, it seems I need to be in charge, controlling all the parts to make them work together perfectly. Oops, there's that word...perfection.
Here I was: stepping over, tripping over, climbing over those who know exactly what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and have the demeanor to get it done just fine, with a variety of other people who do the same thing I'm trying to do.
Allow me to digress. When I was a sophomore in high school, I took a very basic art class. Don Tredway was the teacher's name. He made jewelry in his non-teaching life. He really was an artist. I saw him at a Laguna arts festival, working with his jewelry,
Mr. Tredway was not the most creative art teacher. (Is that an oxymoron?) He ruled over his class demanding...quiet. He used to say..."There's a right way, a wrong way, and a Tredway." And that's how it went in his classroom.
I was pondering this. "Self, why do you think you know better ~ than those who really do know more than than you do ~ at their job?" I had no answer. And that was the answer! "Self, you don't know better."
I wrote to my colleague last night. "I give up! I'm going to let you do what you do so I can do more of what I seem to be good at!" That way we are working as one team made up of individuals, working as a whole; not as a bunch of parts trying to fit into each other's mould.
Mr. Tredway used a method for making his superb jewelry. It was called 'lost wax..' He showed us an example of it. From a rough exterior, that mostly looked slapped together, came the most amazing ring, which was perfectly formed inside the mould. Basically, when the mould is made correctly, wax is poured in to capture that shape. The wax is removed, the ring remains.
This morning I received an email from my associate saying she didn't think I was a control freak but rather more proactive! I hadn't even considered such a thing. And I don't want to. Put it to bed, say goodnight, leave it alone.
I'm still thinking about how some particular systems might be improved. But thank goodness I don't have to do it all. It is more productive, and perhaps fun, to have more similarly framed minds working together, than apart. And that's the idea...more heads...more production. Mr. Tredway made his point.
A right way, a wrong way, the Tredway.... or the highway. Hit the road, Jack.
Live richly, marilyn
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