Imperfect perfection

Such people are perfectionists. They demand much of themselves and work tirelessly towards their goals. Unfortunately they set the same high standards for others too, overlooking the fact that this is asking for the impossible.

Inevitably dissatisfaction creeps in, communication breaks down and progress comes to a standstill. These individuals are then looked upon as persons difficult to deal with and they are either avoided or side-lined.

We see this playing out in many areas of life. The over-bearing boss who disregards the legitimate demands of his workers, the teacher who pressurises and humiliates her young learners and parents who are authoritative and demanding are some of the examples that come to mind.

Neither side benefits. There is frustration on the one hand and resistance and hatred on the other. In order to succeed in the different areas of life, we need to use tolerance.
Extraordinary talent is more of an exception rather than a rule for the great majority is made up of the average. Necessarily only one can be Number One!

Should we then conclude that inefficiency is the norm and slip-shod work acceptable? Not really.

With the right motivation and encouragement, the average will do their best and that almost always proves good enough. Success is not merely a matter of mental caliber and control; it involves the emotions and the goodwill of people working towards it.

In order to bloom, talents, like flowers, need warmth and attention. Besides, everyday problems are very often solved more through the use of commonsense rather than brilliance of intellect.

The story goes that at the height of the space-race, Americans were faced with the necessity of inventing a ball-point pen that would write in zero-gravity. They spent millions of dollars producing it. But the Russians had a simpler solution—they used a pencil.

Perfectionists do not achieve what they set their hearts on because most success stories are born of the labour of minds both great as well as humble. They are the result of trial and error, of teamwork and of partnership.

It is here that the ordinary turns extraordinary.  As Henry Ford, the well-known automobile industrialist declared, ‘Coming together is the beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.’