---
title: Embracing Imperfection
description: Twinning Strategy's guest, Brian Shapiro discussed Perfectionism with us on Friday 5/3. Innovation requires room for learning and making mistakes and often flies in the face of our metric driven needs for revenue, grades and likes.
image: https://twinningedge.com/hubfs/Ep.%2019%20.jpg
---

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 May 4, 2024 11:00:09 AM

# Embracing Imperfection

[Eric Sigel](https://twinningedge.com/blog/author/eric-sigel)

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[Twinning Strategy](https://www.youtube.com/@TwinningStrategy) was joined by [Brian Shapiro](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shapirobrian/), founder of [Shapiro Communications](https://shapirocommunications.com/) and Wharton School instructor on this week's [episode](https://www.youtube.com/live/jKHD7vqY9Jk?feature=shared). Having just watched the 2nd Dune movie, the phrase "perfectionism is the mind killer" was my first thought sitting down to write about yesterday's discussion. We have deep-seated, increasing societal obsession with perfection in the U.S. (I imagine this is shared in many cultures). We are ingraining this in our children's thought processes from an early age. An article I read (and can't relocate) recently report a professor saying that her students, while highly academically prepared, are paralyzed by concerns of failure when it comes to experimentation. Brian discusses this from his perspective teaching in an academic environment with an anecdote of a student at Wharton (no easy feat to be accepted in the first place) demonstrating deep disappointment in getting an A- in a difficult class. The question is, to what end? What does that A vs. A- do for your life? vs. what does it potentially take from your life?

In the professional context, the fear of failure, of asking the "stupid" question, or of being blamed for wasting resources has likely held everyone of us back. As a result our companies a leaving even relatively low hanging fruit on the table. In biotech (my field) for example, companies and venture capital are willing to blow $10Ms on doing things the traditional way and $1Bs on failed efforts to find drugs, but a few $10Ks on an experimental approach that might pan out, but more likely will teach us how to do it better the next time is a substrate for hand-wringing deliberation with a 'one and done' outcome: if it doesn't work the first time, then it doesn't work. It strikes me that perfectionism is ironically a lazy game that pushes us away from pushing our boundaries. It is a mindset that favors the metric over the outcome and more importantly over the process of developing new capabilities (i.e. innovation). 

These metrics themselves take on outsized meaning in our lives. Brian talks about how student ratings, an after-thought excercise often imposed on students e.g. as they exit their final exam and that they answer in a rushed and emotionally charged ~20 year old way had hijacked the professor assessment approach. This led his school/department to jettison this approach. Unfortunately, we are headed in a direction where 'likes' and 'followers' become important to our sense of self-worth and in turn to our measured worth to our peers, our bosses and organizations. 

Brian discusses Thomas Curran's book [The Perfection Trap](https://www.amazon.com/Perfection-Trap-Embracing-Power-Enough/dp/B0BSB4ZZHH/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.DWoKo78LS6I2x384ICrAij7l97R9WLWg7zj8BW-D_dvzBB6AoMauF8VtCknvlk0T8cXI7R5_aqupB2jTPkiN1BPWGWKr0itDtb261hYY_Sv5erPAGdfb3x7av26-yd2TwnYkJoU1IonHnZZ9UHOnh1hCivZd0P1JaKgkHXcFgGRBloGai1tbFtfnH8Q6o132jY98ar16miWuADdBcwNqjN48NJZpDw0jnha2BF38kaI.EIZSAcQbrWzhk1Y_F59ePY_O4NkfRaorPIXFIXlRbq8&dib_tag=se&hvadid=695022950611&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9002077&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=11455780701134846735&hvtargid=kwd-2108438928931&hydadcr=22190_13541006&keywords=perfectionist+trap&qid=1714836638&sr=8-1) where Curran breaks perfectionism into three categories: self-directed, other-directed, and socially prescribed. Each of these has its own toxic results leading from self-editing and paralysis to mental health damaging. The flip side is the [Mindset](https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322) (Carol Dweck) and  [Atomic Habits](https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-James-Clear-audiobook/) (James Clear)re-focusing on mindset/identity focused more on being a developing person who learns from mistakes and in Brian's word "self-kindness". 

(\*\*we don't get any kick-backs from any of these books, just providing links for convenience)

[business growth](https://twinningedge.com/blog/tag/business-growth), [leadership](https://twinningedge.com/blog/tag/leadership)

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