This is a great article: http://virtualrealityblog.com/random/dont-be-a-perfectionist/. The author is NOT saying to not strive for excellence rather do not try and be something that you inherently are not and will never be. If you really try to reach out for perfection you will always be disappointed. The same goes for your expectations of others. If you expect perfection from others you will forever be disappointed. Impossible expectations of others is the definition of oppression. No one can accomplish perfection and to expect it of yourself or others makes you the oppressor of yourself or another. I’ve seen this all too often in the development world. The expectations almost always come from an individual who thinks he/she understands development but they actually don’t. This is one reason why I am a very strong advocate for development managers actually having a background of development. You would think that this is a ‘no-brainer’ but unfortunately it is not the case. Many times developers are placed under the heavy hand of managers who have never actually held the title ‘developer’ and as Zed Shaw says they think of development as ‘manufacturing’ when the reality is that programming is a very messy art, full of twists and unexpected turns no matter how much experience you have. So always strive for the best, but never strive for perfection or require perfection from others. If you do, you will never reach a goal.

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