The Problem with Nitpicking

 

I don't think I've ever worked on a project where everything went off smoothly from start to finish. That's not to say they haven't been successful projects.

I am convinced, that by their very nature, projects are unpredictable and often provide numerous reasons to nitpick the work done by members of the team. Unfortunately, this isn't a management behavior that fosters an environment of creative problem solving or productivity. When team members are worried about whether or not their work is going to be "nitpicked" they aren't creative and can't do their best work.

What's more, nitpicking behavior isn't limited to project leaders. Sometimes it's a colleague on the team who feels it's his or her responsibility to nitpick everyone's work.  This personality isn't reserved for senior members of the team either, I've even seen new members of the team start off with nitpicking the work done by their new project team. I've worked with team members like that before—have you? Joining a new team with that kind of behavior often requires a lot of work and time to transpire before they are accepted by their new team.

Let's face it, it's much easier to critique than it is to create—which is why so many people do it.

In a speech given in Paris in 1910, Theodore Roosevelt said, "It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is not effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

While I've served my time in organizations where nitpicking each other is very common, I've also worked in organizations that fostered an environment where people were encouraged to be creative and even take some risks. When mistakes are looked upon as learning opportunities rather than excuses to nitpick, team members are able to create and invent.

What do you do to minimize nitpicking among the members of your project team?