It was a Sunday afternoon. I was scrolling through some online articles on my laptop when my 5-year-old daughter came up to me. She had a piece of an A4 sheet in her hand, and with great enthusiasm, she said, “Papa, let’s make an airplane.”

I got excited to hear this as I loved making paper airplanes in my childhood. We took the paper, and I started giving my daughter instructions on folding the paper correctly and precisely. She was not folding the paper in a straight line (obviously!). So, a couple of times, I helped her out. When we were ready with the first plane, the paper was quite crumbled up with multiple folds and refolds. It did not fly as we desired. However, we picked up another paper, and she began to make a plane again. But this time, I helped her more, ensuring that each line was folded correctly and precisely without error. Unfortunately, the second plane was not that good either.

Consequently, I took the third piece of paper and started folding it with utmost precision. While I was almost close to crafting it, I noticed that my daughter had already gone to another room. And then it struck me – “whose airplane am I building anyway?”

What started as a fun, exciting, and probably a great learning exercise for my daughter converted into my obsession with making a perfect airplane. In those few minutes, I had lost all perspective of why we started the plane exercise in the first place. I saw my “perfectionist attitude” staring at me at that instant. My compulsion to ensure that we crafted the best airplane made my daughter lose her interest in the exercise altogether.

Subsequently, I reflected on my perfectionist attitude and could see it mirroring my behavior at work many times. Dwelling on it further, I realized what triggers this perfectionist attitude within me and how it impacts the results and the people around me.

1. Focus on the outcome is lost

Often, we confuse outcome with solely getting the work executed. We miss the part of developing our team members along with it or creating a system while execution is done. As the perfectionist attitude kicks in, the only thought that remains is “I need to deliver the best.” The focus shifts to “I”. Inevitably, this results in investing more time than required in delivering the output while losing the opportunity to create succession planning.

2. Impatience

The need to get results faster and right at the first time triggers impatience. With impatience, the acceptance that other people can make mistakes also reduces. This attitude further leads to constantly jumping in to do things ourselves. The whole situation results in a lack of trust among the team members.

3. Not being empathetic towards others’ potential

Nobody is born an expert. We become relatively good at doing something due to our experience and practice over time. However, we seldom forget that. Once we become good at something, our benchmark for other people changes, and we forget that we have gone through those struggles as well. It is essential to understand that each person has unique potential and learning curves. Once we are empathetic towards that, we can help them achieve results aptly and efficiently.

4. Need to prove

Even though we are founders or entrepreneurs, or senior leaders, we all carry that constant unconscious need to prove our genius. Our need to get a pat on the back is just insatiable. If we see a particular task not being done accurately, the immediate daunting thought is what others would think of us now. We tend to lose focus on the situation, and it just becomes a game to showcase how good we are. The need to prove is one of the biggest compulsions which prevents collaboration and teamwork.

5. People lose interest

When all this is happening, we don’t understand or realize that people have already lost interest. They see we want to do things ourselves, and eventually, they leave us to do it alone. Ultimately, it demotivates them and may create self-doubt and even frustration. Well, a few days later, I took up a sheet of paper and asked my daughter if she would be interested in making a paper boat, and of course, she was excited. But this time, I allowed her to build her boat. It was a bit torn, leaning towards one side, and did not last very long in the water, but in the end, I was happy that I allowed my daughter to make “her boat”.

Are you not curious to know how the Samvaad went?

Well, this is why we created a little suspense! We were not over the Mumbai feels yet!

So, Samvaad..hmm…

A beautiful evening on a rooftop with a beachside view adorned with such highly engaging conversations between entrepreneurs from diverse industries. How wouldn’t this be exhilarating?

The whole concept of Guru and Guru Tatva was discussed in detail, including how we keep seeking external gurus and factors to navigate us and keep us motivated but what we forget is that everything is within us; all our answers to life are within. We solely need the methodology to unlock those answers from within.

The entrepreneurs came up with such introspective questions on how to move towards a life of conscious living. The curiosity was genuine, and the thirst real.

The discussions elevated to such depth that nobody wanted to leave that contemplative sanctuary but simply be present and imbibe that energy.

The flutist was the icing on the cake to beautify the evening more and make it memorable. Not to forget the stunning decor and delicious food served. You can get jealous looking at the picture.

It was indeed a fun-filled evening with such deep, insightful conversations!

To those who missed this evening,

We hope you will come together and make another Samvaad happen soon!

Congratulations to Rishi Kajaria, Sooryakant Chavaan, Rahul Mehta, Nikhil Purohit, Bindiya Agrawal, Rushab Shah, Gokul Krishna, Avdhesh Sharma, Vikay Kumar Kattula, Dina Mukherjee, Sahil Purav, Rachit Shah, Ayesha R Goyal