At one time or another, anyone who cares about producing quality work has run up against the problem of perfectionism. We can become so tightly focused on getting things "just right," it's difficult to let anything go. Of course, there's always something you can improve, if you just keep nitpicking at it.

But at what point do you hit a point of diminishing returns? Eventually, the improvements you introduce are no longer worth the time you spend on them---and if you keep at it, you'll roll past your deadlines and crash your schedule. Let's face it: perfection rarely occurs in this world, and as Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy pointed out, "If you look for perfection, you will never be content." 

Refusing to let go of something until it's perfect is akin to jamming a broomstick into the spokes of a moving bicycle wheel: after the inevitable catastrophe, motion ceases altogether. If Tolstoy hadn't realized this early on, he would never have completed the classic War and Peace, which weighs in at 1,445 pages. But the persistence prize in the Tolstoy family goes to his wife Sofya. Legend has it she hand-copied seven copies of War and Peace by firelight, after an already-busy day of handling a large household without the benefit of electricity and other modern amenities. If she and her husband had demanded perfection of themselves, both would have died long before they published the novel.

The Zen of Letting Go

Your leadership expects a certain level of production, and you'll impress people when you deliver more than they expect. But to achieve higher levels of success and focus on higher-value activities, you must let some things go at some point---either altogether or earlier. Here are ten simple reasons why you should duck perfectionism: