How Perfectionism Is Sabotaging Your Business Author and researcher Jane Bluestein explains the problems with chasing perfection, and how to avoid them.

Perfectionism is a problem. That's what author and researcher Jane Bluestein learned after studying adolescent girls' pursuit of perfection, then realizing the habit can affect anyone. Her new book is called The Perfection Deception: Why Trying to Be Perfect is Sabotaging Your Relationships, Making You Sick, and Holding Your Happiness Hostage (HCI Books, 2015) -- but there's an important concept missing from that title: Perfectionism can also sabotage your business. She explains why.

What are some common problems caused by perfectionism?

Perfectionist managers often create an environment where nobody can get it right and nobody can win, and they justify it as "there's always room for improvement." When we bring perfectionism to a relationship, we also bring expectations and standards -- whether for our self or others -- that can create a great deal of stress and alienation. When our sense of worth depends on being right, it often comes at the expense of someone else's dignity and worth because we insist on making them wrong.