Done is Better Than Perfect

Done is Better Than Perfect: Perfectionism is no friend in addressing geopolitical challenges that impact the German economy.

German companies’ ability to perfect processes or products is unique in the global market and lends any export with a Made in Germany stamp a certain level of cachet. But this perfection comes at a cost in global economies that are increasingly oriented toward fast-paced industries and cutting-edge technology: it takes an enormous amount of time to achieve.

In a tech-focused world where the most successful new companies do the opposite of what has made German firms successful for so long—moving fast and breaking things, as Facebook would like us to believe—several geopolitical factors add to the headwind.

Perfectionism – 7 Examples

Perfectionism is a complex characteristic that according to experts, can be adaptive (healthy, positive, functional) or maladaptive (unhealthy, negative, dysfunctional).

This article explores the drives and concerns associated with perfectionism, along with theories that offer insight into this fascinating personality trait.

What Goes on in a Perfectionist’s Brain

Many people see perfectionism as essential for success. After all, setting high standards and achieving big goals can feel very rewarding.

Researchers at the University of Cologne wanted to get a better sense of perfectionism at the neurobiological level.

Not only that, high Personal Standard Perfectionism scorers’ brain activity also showed a slowing-down process after they made errors, which could allow them to learn from their mistakes and eventually correct course.

Heroes to zeros: how German perfectionism wrecked its Covid vaccine drive

The same thoroughness that made Angela Merkel’s government a pandemic role model is now holding it back.

In December, two weeks before the European Medicines Agency authorised the first vaccine against Covid-19 for use across the European Union, Berlin unveiled a plan to rocket-fuel its immunisation drive with German precision engineering. Jabs would be mass-administered in purpose-built vaccination centres where patients could be shuttled through queuing lanes like cars through a car wash.

Merkel faults German perfectionism

March 2021. Yahoo News. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has blamed her country’s difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic — from the slow vaccine rollout to the back-and-forth over lockdown rules — partly on “a tendency toward perfectionism” and called for greater flexibility to tackle the latest surge in cases.

In an hour-long television interview with public broadcaster ARD late Sunday, Merkel acknowledged that mistakes were made by her government, including on plans for an Easter lockdown, which had to be reversed.

Retail Realities

Rebuilding economic resiliency as brick and mortar goes to pieces.

For years the Oakland, California, suburb of Pittsburg followed a traditional playbook in its efforts to revitalize its downtown: It tried to lure retailers. First, it focused on trying to replace the JCPenney and Montgomery Ward department stores that closed. That didn’t work out.

What is business agility

Business agility refers to rapid, continuous, and systematic evolutionary adaptation and entrepreneurial innovation directed at gaining and maintaining competitive advantage. Business agility can be sustained by maintaining and adapting the goods and services offered to meet with customer demands, adjusting to the marketplace changes in a business environment, and taking advantage of available human resources.

In a business context, agility is the ability of an organization to rapidly adapt to market and environmental changes in productive and cost-effective ways. An extension of this concept is the agile enterprise, which refers to an organization that uses key principles of complex adaptive systems and complexity science to achieve success. Business agility is the outcome of organizational intelligence.

10 Traits of Highly Agile Companies

June 2021. Gallup. Among all the bad news recently is this positive discovery: German companies are perhaps becoming much more agile.

In fact, Gallup’s Agility Index shows an eight-percentage-point increase — from 9% in 2019 to 17% in 2020 — in German workers who strongly agree their company has the right mindset, tools and processes to respond quickly to business needs.

Can tourism in Germany adapt to climate change? 

September 2021. Deutsche Welle. Before devastating floods swept across western Germany in mid-July, killing 184 people, Germany’s Ahr valley was a popular destination for wine lovers and hikers.

But now, there is little left for tourists to explore: Vineyards have been destroyed, trails and roads have been washed away. It will take years for tourism in the region to recover. The flooding could be a wakeup call for other touristic regions in Germany to adapt to climate change — or suffer the consequences.

Troubled by supply chain woes, German firms diversify and relocate

November 2021. Reuters. More than half of German companies doing business abroad are suffering severe problems in their supply chains or logistics, pushing them to diversify suppliers, shorten delivery routes and even relocate their own production, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The German economy has boomed on the back of globalisation over the past decade. But pandemic-related disruptions in the worldwide network of supply chains that used to turbo-charge its growth engine are now proving a critical weakness.