Showing posts with label perfectionism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label perfectionism. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

How to be a happier lawyer: Strive for excellence/excellent work, not perfection.

How to be a happier lawyer: Strive for excellence/excellent work, not perfection.

If perfection is the outcome, then that's super. But when people drive toward perfection, their focus becomes distorted and over time quality and quantity of work product decreases. 

Friday, November 6, 2009

OCD and the Law

1.4-2% of the general population has OCD.  15% of male lawyers and 21% of female lawyers reach the threshhold for OCD. 

It makes perfect sense.  Perfectionism is critical to effective job performance in the law.  A missing comma, a phrase out of place, tiny errors in any other discipline put billions and careers at risk in the law. 

The problem is that the discipline nudges people toward pathology.  And, it's really hard to be happy with OCD driving your day.