Don’t let perfectionism paralysis hold you back: get creative with strategy

Have you ever stared at your work for hours, convinced it’s not good enough? Have you tweaked and tweaked every fine detail, worried that someone will call you out as a fraud because of one tiny oversight?

Perfectionism is defined as the “refusal to accept any standard short of perfection”. A certain level of perfectionism is a good thing - it can be a driving force for good work. And certainly, as an agency, we want to deliver work for clients that’s as close to perfect as it can get.

But there must be balance. Unchecked perfectionism can easily lead you down a rabbit hole of irrational thoughts and the awful, pervasive feeling that nothing you’ve done is right.

This can stifle progress through procrastination and over-planning - a condition otherwise known as perfectionism paralysis. It prevents talented people from creating great work, and it’s perhaps most threatening when the project you’re trying to deliver is as subjective as a creative strategy.

At The Frameworks strategy and creativity are our bread and butter. And we’ve developed a few routes through the inevitable perfectionism paralysis.

Join the dots

One cause of perfectionism paralysis is the fear of being unable to come up with an answer that is creative or clever enough. But the truth is, we rarely have to come up with an answer out of thin air.

Instead, we look at what’s already there, see it for what it is, find connections – then articulate all this in a way that resonates with the client and provides a springboard for creative thinking. In doing so, we sometimes discover that the brief has a great big hole in it. And often, fixing that hole is the answer we were looking for all along.

While helping a software company rebrand a new product, our research revealed that the product name confused customers and employees. Telling the truth when you discover a problem can be tricky, especially if it falls outside your remit. But we raised the issue anyway, and the client took the feedback onboard. After consultation, we helped solve a foundational issue they had been unaware of, developing a new name and building a stronger identity and value proposition.

Being honest with ourselves and others empowers us to be creative and make changes when necessary. That could be what you need to overcome your overwhelming fear of imperfection.

Trust the process

When perfectionism paralysis strikes, it’s tempting to rely on well-used and reliable strategy tools to carry you. However, it’s essential to keep an open mind and remember that insight can come from anywhere.

Sometimes, the answers don’t come immediately – and that’s OK. Not every problem has an obvious solution at first. Relinquishing control over the process can lead us to answers if we remain open and inquisitive.

In another real-life example, we found a solution in an unlikely place when rebranding a specialist accountancy firm. Its challenge was to make a tricky commercial concept resonate with a new audience.

After a round of stakeholder interviews, two strategy workshops and desk research, I found the answer in the closing pages of a book I happened to be reading at the time. The story was a perfect analogy for the service the client was selling and one that resonated strongly with the target audience. In the end, that rebrand was a huge success.

Don’t be afraid to state the obvious

Perfectionism paralysis can drive us to dismiss good insights as ‘too obvious’ in the pursuit of something ‘more’. But often, the perfect creative answer is the one that’s right in front of your face.

Scribbling over a blank page with ‘obvious’ thoughts is a valuable technique to overcome the overriding perfectionism-induced panic. We can then build these ideas out by interrogating what else they mean or evolve the thoughts by articulating them in new ways.

Sometimes, you’ll realise the best idea is the one you wrote down first.

When we launched our new B2B reinvention business, the first phrase we thought of to communicate our core promise was: ‘The answer is in the room’.

At first, that line felt too simple, too obvious. But after interrogating it and revisiting our research into our target customers and competitor set, it became clear that it was the right thing for us to say. It might have felt obvious to us, but it wasn’t to others. Against a sea of intangible messaging, we could cut through by keeping it simple and focusing on outcomes.

You already have the answers

We all worry at work. But when the fear of delivering anything less than perfection leads to feelings of inadequacy or creates a barrier so high that it stops us in our tracks, it’s time to find solutions.

There’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ creative strategy. It’s all about diving into the research, connecting the dots, allowing the process to carry you and contemplating ideas outside your usual arena. My best piece of advice? Don’t overthink the problem when the answer is staring straight back at you.