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.
Euromaxx reporter Michael Wigge continues his search for the truth about Germany. He travels all over the country with the aim of getting to the bottom of the many clichés that exist about Germany and Germans. Part of the fun of living in such old countries as those here in Europe is that many of the quirks that were hard earned over centuries can be confirmed…and then,again some can’t.
Do you have to work with Germans, especially engineers, in your professional life or do you plan to do so? This video might provide some insight on how to get along with them well.
About German perfectionism: 3:17 to 4:29.
“We typically aim for a particular career because we have been deeply impressed by the exploits of the most accomplished practitioners in the field.
We formulate our ambitions by admiring the beautiful structures of the architect tasked with designing the city’s new airport, or by following the intrepid trades of the wealthiest Wall Street fund manager, by reading the analyses of the acclaimed literary novelist or sampling the piquant meals in the restaurant of a prize-winning chef.
We form our career plans on the basis of perfection. Then, inspired by the masters, we take our own first steps and trouble begins. What we have managed to design, or make in our first month of trading, or write in an early short story, or cook for the family is markedly and absurdly, beneath the standard that first sparked our ambitions. We who are so aware of excellence end up the least able to tolerate mediocrity – which in this case, happens to be our own….”
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.
The German term Planungssicherheit conveys the concept of planning security; ability to plan reliably over time. It is culturally significant because last-minute changes are frustrating and unprofessional in the German business culture, especially relating to negotiations.