In the Digital Age of Artificial Confection, Here’s to the Art of Imperfection

We’ve been talking about art in my house these days.  A couple years ago (almost to the day in fact), my husband left the high-pressure and rigor of global enterprise tech sales to pursue his life-long passion: art.

As someone who values the evolution of technology and looking at it through a broad range of lenses – efficiency, globalism, the future, leadership, human connection, artificial intelligence, wellness, markets, and so on - he mentioned something the other day for which I couldn’t help but to pause.

His comment was about art, but I saw it more holistically:

“In a world of perfection (with AI starting to make its way into the arts), people will start craving imperfection again.” (e.g., art made by the human touch)

And isn’t that already the case?

Instagram and Facebook have been at the forefront in the evolution of perfection in the way humans appear and consume.  I remember the days when I lived in Spain and Italy as a teenager for a summer program or my sophomore year of college.  How interesting, awakening and inspiring it was to get a taste of the European sense of style, or the new sounds that had yet to hit the US.

Today, it doesn’t matter where we are in the world.  Everyone dresses the same way, listens to the same music (generally speaking), and let’s face it, there’s the Kardashian effect.  It was interesting for a time, but it’s getting boring - even robotic - when everyone is chasing the same ‘perfect’ look and feel.

The influencers who seem to be making a greater impact on social media these days are the ones who scream authenticity; and who exude confidence in their own imperfection.

At work on teams, or as sports fans watching teams, or in ‘team society’ at large, we tend to get a charge by being ‘right’, and we gravitate to those who agree with our version of right. 

Let’s face it - it’s easier.

And to each of us, our version of ‘right’ is our own version of perfection.

But what if it’s really the muddy imperfection of discovering common ground in the conflict amongst those who have different perspectives or talents, that unifies and drives us toward the BIG win?

In fact, a 2010 MIT study on collective intelligence (Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups, Sept 2010) found that teams perform better when the conversation reflects a diversity of group members’ ideas. In other words, performance thrives when we encourage many different versions of ‘right’.

I tend to use this analogy: you can’t get the touchdown with 11 quarterbacks. 

Recently, I’ve been considering this idea of ‘imperfection for the win’, in the case of leadership.

In places like LinkedIn, we get told what you’re supposed to DO/HAVE, to be a good leader: Vision, Communication, Discipline, Gravitas, Listening, Awareness, Growth Mindset, Empathy, Accountability, etc.., and if we DO those things, we will be successful.

But what if great leadership is an imperfect dance to find our own natural harmony in these and other characteristics?

What if each individual must stumble their way to their own unique version of great leadership? 

What if impactful leadership is the open willingness to lean into those unique strengths, we each hold as our own, while testing, learning, falling and growing our way through the important attributes we don’t find to be second nature?

And this dance is ongoing.  It doesn’t end at a title or a rubber stamp of ‘perfection’.  It’s a humble confidence that comes when we know just how imperfect we are as humans, and we continue to expand our lens that strengthens the tools we bring to the game personally and professionally.

And so, I’ll ask this to the humans who took the time to read this:

In a world of AI, where a machine will always surpass every one of us in the ‘perfection’ of knowledge and intelligence, how will you discover your greatness as a human and a leader by tapping into your own imperfection?

AI can out-perfect us. Our edge? Human imperfection.