亲爱的安妮：最近，我拿到了自己的年度绩效评估。今年的评估结果与我以往的职场评价类似，怎么说呢？我的表现非常优秀，但也不是完全没有烦恼。好的一面是，老板对我评价很高，认为我尽职尽责，并且注重细节。他认为我的点子证明“我潜力无限。”（我在四年内获得了两次升职机会。）

    但之后他对我的评价却来了个一百八十度大转弯。我有几个重要的项目未能赶上最后期限，原因是我认为项目未达到预期目标，于是花了太多的时间对项目进行改进。而且，我非常不善于把任务委托给下属。我的下属团队其实很优秀，但我总是希望保证凡事都做到尽善尽美。与其跟其他人解释我心目中的最终成品是什么样子，还不如我自己动手来得简单。因此，老板认为，我不应该“过于追求完美”。但我该怎么做才能保持工作水准和团队效率呢？——挫败的布伦特伍德人

    亲爱的BB：杰夫•西曼斯基说道：“每次听到别人说‘你真是个完美主义者’这样的话时，我都搞不清楚这到底是赞美还是贬低。通常情况下，应该两者兼而有之吧。”

    西曼斯基是一位心理学博士，并且自认是一位完美主义者。他在非盈利机构国际强迫症基金会（International OCD Foundation）担任执行董事;。同时，作为一位经验丰富的临床医学家，他还在哈佛医学院麦克林医院（Harvard Medical School's McLean Hospital）负责一个专门针对完美主义者的咨询项目。近期，他出版了一本新书，书名是《完美主义者手册：敢冒风险，欢迎批评，利用错误》（The Perfectionist's Handbook: Take Risks, Invite Criticism, and Make the Most of Your Mistakes）。

    西曼斯基首先提出，完美主义是一把双刃剑。超高标准和不屈不挠的职业道德等可以推动公司（及个人职业）达到新的高度。但也有可能因为过于极端而把事情搞砸。

    你所描述的似乎是所有完美主义者的通病：除了自己，他们不相信其他任何人做事能达到自己的水平，不达到完美誓不罢休，最终却延误了任务期限。而对于老板（以及其他人，比如客户）来说，按时完成任务比一个“完美的”项目更为重要。

    Dear Annie: I recently had my annual performance evaluation. Like every other review in my career so far, it was -- how can I put this? -- excellent but mixed. On the plus side, my boss thinks I do great work, I'm conscientious and detail-oriented, and my ideas show "tremendous promise," he said. (I've been promoted twice in four years.)

    Then comes the big "but…." I missed a couple of important deadlines, because I took too long trying to improve projects that I thought just weren't ready yet. Also, I find it really difficult to delegate anything. I'm leading a talented team, but I want to make sure everything is done right, and sometimes it's easier to do it myself than to explain how I want the finished product to look. My boss told me I should "try to be less of a perfectionist." But how do I do that, and still keep our standards and our productivity up? --Baffled in Brentwood

    Dear BB: "When I hear, 'you're such a perfectionist,' it's never clear whether this is a compliment or an insult," says Jeff Szymanski. "Usually it's a little bit of both."

    A PhD in psychology, Szymanski is a self-diagnosed perfectionist. He is also executive director of the nonprofit International OCD Foundation. A longtime therapist, he led a counseling program specifically for perfectionists at Harvard Medical School's McLean Hospital. Now he's written a book, The Perfectionist's Handbook: Take Risks, Invite Criticism, and Make the Most of Your Mistakes.

    Szymanski starts from the premise that the P-word is a double-edged sword. Some aspects, like extremely high standards and a do-or-die work ethic, are the fuel that make organizations (and careers) soar into the stratosphere. But it's possible to push all of these too far, and end up crashing.

    You seem to be describing common symptoms of perfectionism run amok: Believing no one else can do their jobs as well as you can, refusing to let go of anything until it's flawless, and consequently blowing deadlines that matter more to your boss (and quite possibly others, like customers) than a "perfect" project does.