Whether your tech company is in the very beginning of its journey, or at a more advanced stage, it can still fall into perfectionism trap. This manifests in various behaviours. Creating a culture that tolerates nothing but the most perfect result. Failing to delegate, as it’s the leader who can do it the best way. Micromanaging the team in pursuit of the ideal. Hesitating to launch the product until it’s flawless… but might be unneeded by the customer.
Enter the Bard. Truth to be told, Shakespeare’s works are an encyclopaedia of life, offering examples on its every aspect. I could illustrate each article with his immortal characters and never run out of them. So today, they’ll help us deal with revealing the dark side of striving to make oneself - and the product - infinitely better.
In his plays, the Bard writes about nobles and servants, royals and ordinary people, showing how prone all of them are to the same behaviours and thinking patterns. Shakespeare’s wisdom is therefore applicable to business as well. There is nothing wrong in continuous improvement, I encourage it greatly. But when being perfect becomes a condition to start, not a mission statement, it paralyses the work and stalls the progress.
“Striving to better, oft we mar what’s well.”
Shakespeare, with his unmatched insight into human nature, peppers his comedies with characters who strive for perfection or absolute control, only to see their plans turn to dust in the most comedic ways. From rigid enforcers of law to jealous husbands and melancholic philosophers, the Bard shows us that perfection is often an illusion, and the pursuit of it can lead to nothing but folly.
“Foul words is but foul wind, and foul wind is but foul breath, and foul breath is noisome”, says Beatrice to Benedick. All the way, before an intervention from their friends, these two spend bickering. Every word from the other’s mouth is dissected and criticised. Both don’t see the forest over the trees of overanalysing each interaction. In the meanwhile, in chasing for conversational perfection and trying to win the verbal sparring, they completely overlook their true feelings.
I won’t stop talking about the importance of communication. It’s challenging enough to get it right between teams on the best of days. The road gets even more bumpy when each party is lead by being perfect in their area. The meetings turn to nitpicking matches, emails are full of blame-shifting, and overall people listen without hearing. In this cases I always recommend taking off the crown. First of all, are the goals of each team aligned with the company’s? Secondly, do you listen to the customers, or think to know better what they actually need? This is a very simple reality check.
“I dote on his very absence.”
The ship wrecks on a remote island. The survivors are quickly involved in a game of cat and mouse, orchestrated by a powerful magician. The former Duke of Milan, Prospero, tries to orchestrate every event on his island to exact revenge on his enemies and restore his position. He scares and manipulates people, moving them like pieces on the chess board. Like every other micromanager before and after.
And like every micromanager he fails to control everything. The events go out of hand pretty quickly, as other inhabitants of the island, his daughter and his (not so loyal) servants have their own agenda. Talk about the goal misalignment! Ultimately, Prospero learns that attempting to control everything is not only exhausting but morally questionable. He chooses forgiveness over vengeance, realising that his obsession with perfection has distanced him from his humanity.
Such behaviour pattern is unfortunately common for startups, whose leaders often lack management experience and business vision. Around 63% of startup teams admitted their supervisors weren’t prepared for the role, and alarming 73% complained about being micromanaged. Yes, winning each other’s trust is a process, but the temptation to control employees’ every action should be avoided. Collecting and acting upon team’s feedback, being transparent and open, growing as a leader, using the help of mentors and coaches, - these are some steps tech founders can take to ensure they don’t fall victims to micromanagement.
“Take pains. Be perfect.”
The cargo cult of creating a perfection before even thinking of entering the market can be damaging for morales as well as the actual product development. “Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.” we hear from Feste in “Twelfth Night”. Shakespeare likes to speak through his jester characters. Flexibility, quick thinking, and continuous learning give a tangible competitive advantage over rigidity. Open communication that flows in both directions also helps against insecurity of bringing an ”imperfect” product to the market. Rereading Shakespeare once in a while works, too.
King Lear (Act I, Scene IV), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Act I, Scene II), The Merchant of Venice (Act I, Scene I)
