The Problem With Perfection

I take issue with the idea that there is a "right" way to to business. There are a LOT of ways to do business, and many of them are successful. Sure, I dislike some of those methods, but that doesn't mean they are ineffective. I was recently reading a book which created a Utopian office as its setting. This office was perfect, it was fun, and profitable, and everyone loved working there, and everyone was paid well, and everyone got a long and they created new ways to handle conflict, and everything was perfect. And really, that's just not helpful.

I like the idea of innovative thought. I relish the chance to meet business owners who want to do things differently, because I myself am a creature of change. But I do not hold with the idea that you can make anything perfect. I do not believe that the training I provide to companies will make them free of conflict or issue. Utopia cannot exist, and this is from the mouth of an optimist. Trying to achieve such a standard creates a false horizon. We're expecting people to achieve something that is outside reality.

There will be work required to get our work done. Or it wouldn't be work. Some of that work may be distasteful, or unfulfilling in certain aspects. The challenge to me is not to try to eliminate that work, because in some instances, that is not feasible. The challenge is to make the most of it each time. The challenge is to understand that our environment is not perfect, and there are a number of things out of our control, but those that are within our control can be whatever we want them to be.

We can control our own choices, and we feel better when we make a choice to do something rather than have it thrust upon us. It is not an easy thing to do, but when my boss tells me that I HAVE TO do a specific project, I try to remind myself that I am making the decision to do this. I could tell my boss "No". I could refuse to to the project, that might in turn lead to me losing my job, but the choice is still mine. And when the jobs I am being asked to do become more distasteful than the prospect of finding a new job, then I will make that choice too. As I have done in the past.

Utopia may just be a fantasy, but I can make the place I live and work, a place of MY choosing.