Whenever I hear dentists refer to themselves as perfectionists, I get a little concerned. I understand that they mean they are uncompromising in their clinical standards, and of course that is a good thing. But one of the thoughts I would like to leave you with as we go into the New Year is this:

Don't get paralyzed by perfectionism.

As it says in the opening lines of the now-classic book, "Good to Great," "Good is the enemy of great," because you can get trapped into inertia by the comfort of just being "good enough." In my experience, perfect is also the enemy of great, because you can also get trapped into inertia by setting an impossible standard. Striving toward perfection in the operatory is one thing, but when you bring that perfectionist thinking into other areas of the practice and into your life, it's easy to put off action on what could be exciting changes because you can only see the flaws and the less-than-perfect results that could occur during the process.

Doing a facility makeover, bringing in a new associate, adopting a game-changing technology such as CEREC—all of these require significant planning and preparation. However, no matter how carefully you prepare there will be speed bumps involved in implementation. The dentists who recognize that reality and move forward with a forgiving and flexible mindset end up miles ahead of the perfectionists who wait for conditions to be ideal and who expect execution to be perfect. Those dentists often wait forever for a "right time" that never comes.

The other problem I have with the idea of perfectionism is that the very definition of perfect is "something that cannot be improved." Where is the fun in that? The essence of a fulfilling life is pursuing continual improvement and growth. I have not achieved perfection in anything in my life, and I hope I never do.

So by all means, strive for excellence in everything you do and take satisfaction in what you have accomplished. If the idea of the pursuit of perfection is what inspires you to new levels, that's great; keep on going. But don't let yourself get hung up on the idea of perfection to the point where it paralyzes you from experimenting with new approaches and holds you back from your true possibilities.

Post a Comment

Comments

Commenter's Profile Image Barry Polansky
December 30th, 2013
Perfectionism--the good, the bad and the ugly. The ugly side is that when perfectionists do not reach their goals they fall into depression. At that point perfectionism is more like something we find in the DSM. You make a good point about having conditions"just right" before beginning a project. I am constantly plagued with this myself--- that's why I keep a sign above my desk: Don't Prepare...Begin!
Commenter's Profile Image Gerald Benjamin
January 1st, 2014
This topic has always been of interest to me. As a profession, dentists as a group are know for being 'perfectionists' and on an individual basis, many dentists will consider themselves 'perfectionists.' Our profession has the good fortune of having many fabulous clinical dentists who set the standards for the rest of us…Drs. Spear, Kois, Strupp, Fahl, Ewbanks etc, etc, etc. Unfortunately, many dentist believe that every dentist has a right to decide what the standard of excellence is which, in realty, is denying that standards exist. When it comes to excellence, the highest standard below 'perfect', dentistry is pretty black and white…we know it when we see it. With that said, and with almost 40 years in the profession, excellence is a rarity in our profession. Let's not kid ourselves by saying that dentists are perfectionists. When my patients 'accuse' me of being a'perfectionist' I emphatically deny that I am and usually respond with, "I am doing the best that I can to take care of you."