What's Flawed about Perfectionism with Dr. Greg Chasson

Send us Fan MailPerfection can look like excellence from a distance, yet up close it there's the potential for problems. We sit down with Dr. Greg Chasson—professor, board‑certified psychologist, and leading authority on OCD and related disorders—to separate what’s truly clinical from what’s simply crushing your workflow. Greg explains why OCD is defined by intrusive thoughts while perfectionism is often rule‑bound thinking that can calcify into inoperative rigidity. That clarity can give organizations and people the key to better choices and systems that support vs. hinder performance. Greg shares his workplace‑ready translation of exposure therapy: the Emphasis A‑B‑C framework. A is for a tiny set of mission‑critical tasks that deserve 110 percent and perfectionistic focus. B is where most work lives—done to standard and delivered. C is skipping the task entirely. If everything is A, burnout follows and option C might prevail as the response even with important tasks; if most is B, learning speeds up and quality improves over cycles, not in a single heroic pass; a learning organization will no how C can be effective not just an outcome of perfectionistic procrastination. We explore how this approach reduces procrastination, prevents hidden “polish” rituals, and puts momentum back into complex projects without lowering the bar.Greg offers practical ways to re‑center on values: assertive communication that replaces sanctimony, decision practices that prioritize service and learning, and acceptance skills that separate controllables from noise. Along the way, we touch on real‑world tensions—identity, workplace expectations, and how moral certainty can backfire—and show how metacognition helps teams think about their thinking. If you’re leading a team, scaling a function, or simply tired of “almost ready” in your personal life, this conversation gives you language and tools to move.  Enjoy the episode, and if it helps you unlock progress, subscribe, share it with a teammate, and leave a quick review so others can find the show.