"At its root, perfectionism isn't really about a deep love of being meticulous. It's about fear.  Fear of making a mistake.  Fear of disappointing others.  Fear of failure.  Fear of success." Michael Law.

Many commercial appraisers are efficient and have a "get it done" attitude.  However, I would say the majority have this self- limiting perfectionism disease which ultimately turns into full-blown procrastination.  It's a debilitating condition that substantively limits appraisers from changing the way they create their appraisal product; specifically embracing the technology to create systems and procedures for automation.

For some, perfectionism is a mental obsession with achieving the ideal as a minimum requirement.  People with a large frontal lobe and strong work ethic typically recognize the desire to produce high quality product.  However, seeking perfection is like chasing the end of a rainbow.  No matter how far you progress, you will never find a leprechaun, much less a pot of gold.  You won't be happy because of the impossible self-imposed measuring stick that's always just out of reach.   
For some it may be the reason that they can't find the "right" mate, constantly scanning (subconsciously) for imperfections of personality or physicality.  I sat with a good friend of mine recently to complete his Match.com profile and the specificity of his dating criteria was amazing to me.  We all have things that are important to us, or "deal breakers" per the web site, but having criteria set in stone is like flipping to the end of a book to see its conclusion without the benefit of the story. Side note, my daughter married her now husband last weekend after first meeting on Match.com.

Ready for a dirty little secret?  Lean in closer to your PC monitor.  Oftentimes preparation and organization is procrastination in disguise.  I was surprised to learn that my office staff has a word for getting something done very quickly..."Just Jeff-It".  I will take the more positive interpretation of that office saying as to get things done quickly, stop thinking so much, don't form a committee, just complete the task.  It goes without saying that tasks need to be done correctly but not perfectly.

My assumption is that if you're a perfectionist appraiser this newsletter won't change your fear of execution, but it might open the door.  The door of awareness.  Involve others to reinforce your commitment to help you set and achieve goals, both professionally and personally.

My sales folks tell me that some current DataComp customers don't use the database to its fullest, such as printing to their Excel adjustment grids and making comp maps.  When asking prospects about the need to have report writing software, a typical response is "when we get around to that."  Our cloud-based commercial appraisal workflow tracking is sometimes met with "we don't need that."  Procrastination inflicts major costs on your appraisal volume in both time and money.

John Acuff author of Quitter: Closing the Gap between Your Day Job and Your Dream Job sums it up beautifully: "90% perfect and shared with the world always changes more lives than 100% perfect and stuck in your head."