Driving to get gas last week, I was struck by a billboard in Kansas City’s Waldo area whose most prominent phrase was “flexible perfectionists.”
Incorporating diverse perspectives is fundamental to creative problem solving. You won’t generate the most interesting new possibilities if you’re only willing or able to approach an opportunity in a singular fashion. One implication is that to improve creativity, you have to be able to hold & easily work with views that appear inherently contradictory.
So back to the billboard.
It was so striking because I view myself as a flexible perfectionist. I definitely want & strive for things to be right. Okay, it’s probably better described as “frequently angsting over things being perfect.” But over time, I’ve realized that in many, many cases “better done than perfect” is the right direction and that mistakes and variation lead to better solutions. This awakening has become the central point of my presentation on “Taking the NO Out of InNOvation.”
Checking out the URL on the billboard (http://www.workplaykc.com/), it’s a recruiting website for Kansas City-based Perceptive Software. The website’s point is that the company seeks out versatile employees because they’re vital to its continued fast growth. Even if you’re not a flexible perfectionist, it’s also looking for:
- Outgoing introverts
- Impulsive planners
- Rational adrenaline junkies
- Disciplined adventurers
- Selfless corporate climbers
- Articulate listeners
- Competitive team players
- Jetsetting homebodies
- Easygoing overachievers
- Collaborative rebels
If a number of these contradictions sound like you, you may have a home at Perceptive Software. Or you may simply be better prepared than most to be a creative force in life!
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