Wabi-sabi is the Japanese concept of "beauty through imperfection." The word "wabi" refers to the simplicity of living in nature away from society, while "sabi" is the natural aging process of objects. Together, wabi-sabi represents an aesthetic that encompasses not just visual beauty, but also spiritual and philosophical values such as humility, simplicity, and the acceptance of transience.
'Tis the season to tackle employee performance evaluations. This is arguably the most misaligned moment in the relationship between a manager and an employee. Performance evaluations and the rating systems that are commonly used are often difficult to communicate because of deep rooted assumptions about what the ratings really mean.
Employee ratings typically fall into these categories:
Outstanding
Exceeds Expectations
Meets Expectations (or Successful)
Needs Work
Unacceptable
Needs Work or Unacceptable is fairly straightforward. Outstanding vs. Exceeds vs. Meets is where the trouble begins.
We are hardwired to value achievement and excellence over failure. We go to school and are measured by the academic scale of success; we strive for the "A" and are shamed by the "F." At the other end of the pendulum lies the "Participation Trophy," where everyone is rewarded for just showing up, which of course has the opposite effect of both diminishing the award and making people feel devalued. Somehow we miss the middle ground, because the middle ground just feels like we're succumbing to mediocrity.
In my view it is patently unfair to ask an employee to exceed my expectations all the time for all of their work. What that really means is that my expectations are too low. Managers talk about expecting employees to "go above and beyond" without explaining what that means, or how to achieve that, because they generally don't know. If they did, that would be the standard for meeting expectations, would it not?
Taking it one step further, managers and supervisors that expect perfection are generally very poor managers. Perfectionism in psychology is a personality trait characterized by an individual's striving for flawlessness and setting excessively high standards. There are positive and negative attributes to perfectionism. People with adaptive perfectionism are those who strive to improve, whereas people with maladaptive perfectionism often have unrealistic or unattainable standards for themselves or others. Managers who have unrealistic expectations for their employees are said to exhibit traits of other-oriented perfectionism. These are the folks you don't want to work for; micromanagers who cannot delegate work, overly critical managers with low tolerances for mistakes, managers who cannot relate to their employees, managers who are inflexible, and so on.
A good manager has taken the time to develop goals and expectations that cover the full breadth of an employee's job description. When it comes time for the performance review, there will always be areas where an employee can excel and areas where an employee needs encouragement. If someone exceeds my expectations in a given goal it's because I was truly and delightfully surprised by their performance. If an employee needs encouragement it can also be a positive experience if the manager is willing to provide useful feedback. Needing encouragement is meeting expectations in my book, because it's my job as a manager to provide encouragement. "Needs work" means the employee isn't really trying at all. "Unacceptable" means they need another job.
Imperfection in the workplace is not an easy concept to embrace. Wabi-sabi is a way to reframe the beauty of imperfection in an employee. We should value people's imperfections as much as we value the diversity of people and ideas in the workplace. Nobody is perfect. And that's the perfect place to be.