I think it may be too simple to say that perfectionism is bad. To me, it's one of two halves of the creative process. (At least in theoretical research, which i

I think it may be too simple to say that perfectionism is bad. To me, it's one of two halves of the creative process. (At least in theoretical research, which is what I do, but I think this generalizes to other fields.) You have one half where you need completely crazy and wild ideas, where it's vitally important to get started and not be paralyzed because you think that something is stupid or wrong or will not work. Here perfectionism is an enemy. But you have the other half where you look at what you did and you try to figure out how good it is, and how it can be improved. Here, perfectionism is important because it's what will point out to you the flaws in what you have done so far. I think the best work is created by iterating between these two mindsets. (It's even better if you can iterate with someone, where you go over what the other did until you converge.) So I think perfectionism is something that can drive you to improve, as long as you retain the capacity to turn it off half the time, especially where you're trying to get started.