Ideas worth spreading

Perfectionism holds us back. Here's why

286,247 views |

Charly Haversat |

TED@State Street Boston

• November 2015

If you can't do it perfectly, why do it at all? Recovering perfectionist Charly Haversat challenges our obsession with perfection in our personal lives, workplaces and beyond. Can we fight the crippling fear of failure and the unwillingness to compromise that it creates?

If you can't do it perfectly, why do it at all? Recovering perfectionist Charly Haversat challenges our obsession with perfection in our personal lives, workplaces and beyond. Can we fight the crippling fear of failure and the unwillingness to compromise that it creates?

About the speaker

Charly Haversat

Anti-perfection crusader

As a reformed perfectionist and former professional athlete, Charly Haversat began noticing that we spend a lot of our personal and professional lives on being flawless. But her big question is: As we obsess about perfection, are we actually getting anything done? A vice president in Alternative Investment Solutions, she focuses on designing scalable, cost-effective programs that meet both our business needs and our clients’ expectations.

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

Read more about the TED Institute