Perfectionism

I have always been fascinated by the idea of perfectionism.   Is it an admirable quality or a damnable curse?   What does perfection look like, anyway?   Can a true perfectionist become an effective lawyer, teacher, or physician?   A few years ago I moderated an online discussion involving some of the world's most acclaimed guitar and mandolin builders.   I asked each of them if he was a perfectionist.   Not one of them said that he was.   Here's what John Monteleone, widely regarded as one of the world's foremost instrument builders, had to say about perfectionism in response to a question I asked:

Q - I know that you are swimming in interesting questions and can't possibly answer all that have been posed to you this week. However, I want to ask one more on a subject I have given a lot of thought to over the years. I have discussed this subject with Lynn Dudenbostel and Mike Kemnitzer just last week. The question is: Are you a perfectionist? If so, is that a good thing, a bad thing, or something in between. If you are not a perfectionist, how would you verbalize what you are?

When I first started to practice law, over 30 years ago, I worked for a very excellent group of lawyers in New Orleans. One older partner I regarded as sort of my mentor and he gave me a lot of good advice I still use to this day. He once told me that "learning to practice law is learning to compromise with perfection." You can always make something better, he told me, by spending another week on it, or another day, or another hour. Determining where to draw those lines is a constant challenge. I believe that a true, honest-to-God perfectionist will have a very hard time making a living as a lawyer. Being a world class luthier may well be a different proposition altogether. I would love to have your thoughts. Besides, we need some esoteric questions here!

A - A perfectionist is one who finds himself stuck in a quagmire of indecisions. One of the most difficult things that I had to learn was when and how to let go of a piece. When was it really done?

And when you find yourself doing business as a professional with a family to feed, bills to pay, and so on, you begin to focus on these things too. And yes, I agree with you that learning just where to draw the line is a challenge. You could go on for ever trying to second guess your instincts. And it is really difficult to avoid a compromise of any kind. I don't like compromises. Compromise doesn't spell quality, nor does it spell finesse.

I think that rather than being a perfectionist I use perfection as a goal. Real perfection is not really attainable, but for me it is rather a useful tool of direction for the pursuit of fineness.

True perfectionism unto itself can be a hindrance to creation. It can get in its own way when making decisions.

I believe in being looser than that while maintaining the highest of standards and allowing myself to flex a little on the way to perfection. I like to think that I can sometimes get fairly close to this thing called perfection. So, I don't know what I'd call myself as I don't think I fit the textbook description of perfectionist but I like the results after all is said and done.

Perfectly yours,
J. Monteleone

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If you want to see how close John Monteleone gets to perfection, take a look at his website.   Gorgeous stuff!  


I wrote an article a while back about pursuing perfection in the practice of law.   Non-lawyers (normal people) who have read the article have told me that the article would apply to almost any profession and a lot of the general endeavors of life.   Here's a link:   oldsite.mobar.org/8367d135-951d-4c4e-a949-379bf31ddef8.aspx