My guest today, Thomas Kern, is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological

and Behavioral Science at the London School of Economics.

He's one of the world's experts on the topic of perfectionism.

Lots of people call themselves perfectionists and they wear that label as a badge of honor,

but the research done by Thomas and others that he describes in his brand new book, The

Perfection Trap, does a very different story.

This idea that perfectionism is a positive, somehow adaptive trait, just isn't supported

by the scientific evidence.

Welcome to People I Mostly Admire with Steve Love It.

This is a subject that I have not thought very much about before, in part because I've

never personally considered myself a perfectionist.

I've really enjoyed the book, but I can also say I was somewhat skeptical of some of

the arguments.

I hope that Thomas is up for my challenges.

A perfectionist, writing a book on perfectionism, can I just say that sounds like a recipe for

disaster.

Did things go as badly as I imagined they would when you tried to write this book?

Oh, total catastrophe.

It was two years of due date.

I think my editor by the end of it was ready to retire.

But no, in all seriousness, it's a really difficult process, right?

If you'll get the best of times, but being a bit of a perfectionist myself, even tougher.

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