It took me at least 15 years to finally understand – being a perfectionist is not a badge of honour. On the contrary, it is self-indulgent, and a hindrance to growth.
In the many years of running design studios, one of the hardest lessons to learn is letting go of the urge to be perfect.
The natural instincts of a designer are always to amplify flaws, and to find ways to improve — either in crafting details or introducing different thinking to the work in progress. As one takes on the responsibility to lead, automatically the person takes on the role to scrutinise and critique the works of subordinates, demanding more and more revisions before releasing “that” draft version to the clients.
“Did anyone actually notice, I spent hours kerning all the subheads?”
We’ve been there. We’ve burned the midnight oil replacing all 10-point Helvetica with 10-point Univers. Replacing #5c5c5c with #6c6c6c. Obsessively aligning images to gridlines, etc etc. Overthinking pixel counts for a favicon. Proudly making t-shirts that say “I KERN.”
All of this, to produce a perfect Draft version 2.
I started my first design studio at 24, without much work experience. As an inexperienced leader, I used to drive my team mad with requests like “rotate the image by 2 degrees” — with the genuine intention of achieving perfection. It took years to get over that.
The simple learning? Replace perfection with discernment.
As professionals, we always want to deliver work of exceptional quality — well thought through, well crafted, well executed. That is non-negotiable.
But a typical project has multiple checkpoints before the end. This is where the iterative process matters more than the pursuit of perfection — adopting the mindset of allowing things to fail, to fall apart, to be rejected, and probably restarted a few times.
Discernment is what happens at each checkpoint. Is this a deal breaker that has to be dealt with right now? Or is this something we can live with for now — noted, flagged to the client, to be incorporated in the next version? What matters more at this moment — delivering on time, or a delayed but better version? And better by whose definition?
“Can we allow this to be released — despite knowing that the yellow could be richer, transitions smoother, and loading faster?”
Sometimes the answer is yes. Learning to say yes to that is the actual skill.
Practising discernment is tough. I had to learn to refrain from picking flaws that have no significant impact, and instead pick the right moment for OCD-level review — usually only after the work has already been sent off. A review delivered with the option of: “You could choose to implement this in the next round, or you can choose to ignore my nitpicking — because chances are, only a handful of humans on earth can spot that difference. As long as you remember this when you start on the next project.”
Apply this to project meetings. There will always be the one perfectionist-OCD attendee who will interject, overthink, and question something that is probably 1% of the entire project. My partner calls it plainly — the behaviour of a person making themselves feel in control when the world has already moved on.
I sit through meetings making mental notes. Selecting crucial points to discuss. Putting aside debatable points for another time. Mapping things that are too early to act on to the calendar, for the right moment to revisit. It is an exercise in discernment, every single time.
There will always be the one perfectionist-OCD attendee who will interject, overthink, and question something that is probably 1% of the entire project.
My partner calls it plainly — the behaviour of a person making themselves feel in control when the world has already moved on.
