The
reputation I have among friends and family is that I tend to be a bit of a
perfectionist. When I do something, I want it done right and in full. I don’t
want to have to return to something I’ve already done. I’d rather do something
all at once than in parts; that way, I know everything is relatively
consistent, I don’t have to get back into work mode (the more I work on
something, the more focused and efficient I become), and I don’t have to worry
or be stressed about whatever I’m doing anymore.
My reputation was formed by a
personal characteristic. I wouldn’t say that characteristic controls my life or
anything like that. It’s more of a personal preference. Nevertheless, this
preference can seem a little irrational to some people, so it has developed
into a kind of reputation. It also means I have trouble shirking even if I
could get away with it because I don’t like doing any less than my best unless
time constraints have made such high standards unobtainable. One such example
is this: I was given a job to do by my girlfriends’ parents to stain their deck
in preparation for her college graduation celebration last summer. They were
surprised by how much time and effort I used, and they told me I went far
beyond the quality they would have expected. To be honest, I never intended on
spending so much time either, but I reasoned the whole time that if I do a good
job now, that deck will look nice for a long time to come. Since it started out
looking so well, I wanted to make the whole thing look as well. There were
times when I even annoyed myself with how much more time I was spending than necessary.
Not only did this gain me a
reputation with my girlfriend, her parents, pretty much her entire extended
family, and additional family friends that attended the celebration, but while
I was working, there was also a desire to have such a reputation. I was proud
of my work. I wanted to be seen as a hard worker. As a result, I was complimented
for my work countless times. That wasn’t my intention before I started, but it
sure was by the time I finished. Like I said, by the end, I annoyed even myself. I was being paid a flat payment, and the work became tedious really
quickly. Nevertheless, at least for me, it ended up being worth it.
Furthermore, several people let me know that they’d happily hire me for similar
work if the need arises.
I don’t like to cash in my
reputation for most circumstances. It’s not worth it if the reputation is any
good. The short-term gains simply don’t outweigh the long-term loses. I often
don’t like to make exceptions even when nobody would know. It
doesn’t really have any effect on my reputation, but I figure if I let my
principles slip in private, they may slip in other ways as well. Of course, I’m
far from perfect, and sometimes I feel the ends justify the means. Sometimes a small
sacrifice in reputation has to be made. I can’t give everything my all. I’d go
crazy if I tried.
Bottom line, good reputations are
worth keeping. Sacrificing a good reputation may make short-term gains, but I
feel that losing a reputation is worse than having no reputation at all. If
anything, that would get you a reputation for giving up or giving in rather
than having the self-discipline to do what you believe is right.
Given the story you told I wonder if you've ever experienced the following. In writing a piece you experience writer's block, because you want to do a bang up job with the writing but are afraid you won't be able to meet your own high standards. I know people who gone through something similar.
ReplyDeleteLet me now give a different issue regarding the world of work as I understand it now. That is, typically there aren't enough people around to do all the work that is expected to be done. So everyone's to do list is a mile long and people feel under a great deal of stress. In this case there seem to be two possible paths to manage the workload. One is to lower your own standard of what counts as acceptable work so you can make a dent in shrinking your to do list. The other is to prioritize items and either take some off the list entirely or put them at the bottom of the pile - they'll get done when the time is available, not before.
The perfectionism you described would seem to come into conflict in this work situation, but may not come into conflict during the summer, particularly if you were otherwise time abundant. What will you do when you are no longer time abundant? Will your perfectionism remain, perhaps at the expense of not getting much sleep? Or will you abandon this reputation because the environment no longer lets you maintain it?
I don't know the answers to these questions. All I do know here is that what is virtue and what is vice depends on the environment in which you operate that. It would be good for you to consider these issues before you have to confront them, so you have an initial game plan. You might still depart from that later, but by making a realistic plan you are less likely to burn out on the job.