Flamingoes, Date Night and Letting Go of Perfect

Updated: Oct 17, 2022

Connection is important, now more than ever.

We're hearing about the Great resignation, Quiet Quitting, you name it... it's got a name for it (pun intended).

Sometimes when we're busy in the trenches, putting out fires and generally getting through a very big todo list. Managing families and commitments, I have 4 kids (which sometimes feels like a thousand kids!). It's in this busy-ness that the things that lights us up and bring us the most joy are the things that are often neglected.

A couple of weeks ago my husband and I shipped the kids off for an afternoon (thank you to my beautiful Mother-in-law who is an actual angel!) and headed off for a sneaky date day.

We decided to do something a little different and found ourselves at PinotPicasso which is a drink wine and learn to paint experience.

Completely out of my comfort zone, and I was nervous.

Nervous that my painting would be rubbish (all my creativity goes into my thinking and problem solving these days). Nervous that it (me) would be judged for my less than spectacular masterpiece. Nervous that my painting wouldn't look like the one we were following. Just plain ol' nervous.

Let me set the scene for you. There were about 25 people in the class. some couples, a few work groups and maybe a hens group. Everyone had the same sized canvas to work on, the same paint colours to paint with, the same paint brushes.

What unfolded was really unexpected.

As the teacher explained each of the steps, I glanced over my canvas to see what others were doing.

Each and everyone was different.

As we were going through the lesson it really got me thinking about how much pressure as leaders we put on following a process, and getting a result. It got me thinking about expectations whether we're clear enough with them when sometimes they fall short, or are completely off the mark.

We all had the same tools, and the same instructions...

However it was our personal experiences and preferences that made the paintings unique.

We think that if we just work hard enough and long enough, the results will be perfect. But that's simply not realistic. Life is messy and unpredictable, and often our best efforts will differ from our ideals. Often the best efforts of our teams will differ from what we expected. This doesn't make it wrong, it just makes it different.

This doesn't mean we should settle for mediocrity or lack of effort. It just means we need to accept that imperfection and differentiation is a beautiful part of the human condition. If we can learn to embrace our flaws and imperfections, we'll be much happier and more successful in life. If we can learn and accept that our way isn't the only way. our teams can be happier and more successful.