Can A Perfectionist Be A Successful Entrepreneur?

[Dien Rice]

For a long time I thought it was difficult for a perfectionist to be a successful entrepreneur... A quick online search will reveal LOTS of articles, warning would-be entrepreneurs against being perfectionists!

Then... I read some of the following...

"And as a relentless perfectionist, [Steve Jobs] came up with creations that actually delivered on their promise -- raising the bar for rivals."

(From Steve Jobs: He Thinks Different.)

Steve Jobs is a very successful entrepreneur in the tech industry, with his companies like Apple and Pixar.

"I'm a maniacal perfectionist. And if I weren't, I wouldn't have this company.... I have proven that being a perfectionist can be profitable and admirable when creating content across the board: in television, books, newspapers, radio, videos." - Martha Stewart.

(From Oprah's Cut with Martha Stewart.)

Martha Stewart has a diverse publishing and broadcasting empire.

A friend said, "He [Wayne Huizenga] was always a perfectionist, whatever he got into he would carry through on it".

(From Wayne Huizenga - Entrepreneur's Hall of Fame.)

Wayne Huizenga is the only person to have founded 3 companies to make the Fortune 500 - Waste Management, Inc., Blockbuster, and AutoNation.

I don't think you have to be a perfectionist to be an entrepreneur - and maybe in many cases it's a liability. Yet, I think these 3 examples show that a person can be an exceptional entrepreneur, and also be a perfectionist. I think in certain cases and industries, it can give an entrepreneur an advantage!

Just some food for thought (for all the perfectionists out there)...

Cheers,

Dien

I believe that a perfectionist can't be a successful entrepreneur....IF they try to do it all themselves
That's the problem with alot of Entrepreneurs. Their not patient in building the right team, so the perfectionist in them comes out and tries to do everything themselves.
Alot of us need to Leggo the Ego
Great post!

[Ankesh]

Thanks Dien,

What these guys say and what these guys do are quite different.

Do you remember the first iPod? How bulky it was? Did Steve Jobs wait to make the iPods smaller?

No. He launched the bulky iPods. And then started working on iPod Nano and iPod Mini.

And all the iPods still have the problem of getting scratches on them. Steve Jobs hasn't solved that problem yet.

If Jobs were a perfectionist - we wouldn't have seen the iPods even today.

He is better at quality management. But by no means a perfectionist.

"In today's world of Web and Internet businesses, choose SPEED over PERFECTION. Because perfection follows speed." - Brajeshwar (a Mumbai entrepreneur I know.)

According to this article below, at least at one time Steve Jobs was an extreme perfectionist who could put a team through 100's of hours and weeks of preparation and scrutiny for even a five minute presentation.

Yet, he and others who worked for him were also very grateful for the harsh treatment they received to bring out the best in all of them.

Interesting behind the scenes look at one of the great entrepreneurs and best CEO presenters in history:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...ewmedia.media1

Who can argue with that kind of success?

Cheers,

Rod

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

For a long time I thought it was difficult for a perfectionist to be a successful entrepreneur... A quick online search will reveal LOTS of articles, warning would-be entrepreneurs against being perfectionists!

Then... I read some of the following...

"And as a relentless perfectionist, [Steve Jobs] came up with creations that actually delivered on their promise -- raising the bar for rivals."

(From Steve Jobs: He Thinks Different.)

Steve Jobs is a very successful entrepreneur in the tech industry, with his companies like Apple and Pixar.

"I'm a maniacal perfectionist. And if I weren't, I wouldn't have this company.... I have proven that being a perfectionist can be profitable and admirable when creating content across the board: in television, books, newspapers, radio, videos." - Martha Stewart.

(From Oprah's Cut with Martha Stewart.)

Martha Stewart has a diverse publishing and broadcasting empire.

A friend said, "He [Wayne Huizenga] was always a perfectionist, whatever he got into he would carry through on it".

(From Wayne Huizenga - Entrepreneur's Hall of Fame.)

Wayne Huizenga is the only person to have founded 3 companies to make the Fortune 500 - Waste Management, Inc., Blockbuster, and AutoNation.

I don't think you have to be a perfectionist to be an entrepreneur - and maybe in many cases it's a liability. Yet, I think these 3 examples show that a person can be an exceptional entrepreneur, and also be a perfectionist. I think in certain cases and industries, it can give an entrepreneur an advantage!

Just some food for thought (for all the perfectionists out there)...

Cheers,

Dien

I've always heard the words "You Don't Have To Get It Right, You Just Have To Get Going"

But then again I've heard others who have jumped in with both feet and ended up losing everything.

That's when I've heard the expression "Never go to the bank for money, never take over dept, and never make any promises you can't keep"

Hi Dien,
This is the definition that I have gathered upon searching for the right definition of perfectionist .
what is a perfectionist?
A perfectionist is someone who expects much more from himself beyond the normal standards, he usually sets very high standards for himself that he never meet and so ends up with a degraded self confidence. example of perfectionist's standards can be:

* ill never make mistakes
* everyone shoud love me
* ill score 100 percent at all exams
* i should be perfect

Based on the definition, perfectionist doesn't want to commit mistake/s, and one of the imperfections of a business is/are committing mistake/s. Mistakes are there to teach us valuable lessons, lessons that will lead us to become a stronger person. Perfectionist for me will never become successful entrepreneurs. Why? because there mistakes will lead them in to their downfall.