Practice makes {………..}….Spoiler alert - it’s not perfect.
How many of you filled in the word perfect without even thinking about?
Perfect. That’s a proper dangerous word.
Held up as being a worthy ideal.
Here’s the challenge with that. It’s not actually a good thing to aim at.
Harvard Business Review combed through four decades of research, some 95 different studies covering 25,000 people on perfectionism.
Some findings stood out:
Perfectionism and Performance are not related to each other.
Perfectionists are not better or worse performers than non-perfectionists.
Perfectionism is unlikely to be constructive at work. In fact, it appears to be the opposite. That the trait of perfectionism is more likely to lead to burnout and a negative impact on wellbeing.
It would seem that commonly received wisdom of perfect being a good thing is not actually a good thing.
I was teaching my 12 year old diving in the local swimming pool last weekend.
I encouraged her to practice and before I knew it the words “practice makes perfect” had slipped out of my mouth.
Dammit.
The language of perfectionism is just ingrained.
It got me thinking.
What would be a better word?
Practice makes Progress? Progress sounds like a much outcome than Perfect.
Practice makes Permanent? (Actually this the suggestion from my son, what his rowing coaches teach him).
Practice makes ……
What would you suggest?