Just how many times does an employee need to go over a report
before it goes out? Certainly, it’s admirable to look for mistakes and to consider whether all important topics have been scrutinized for weak- nesses and omissions. Some employees, however, use these usually legitimate work practices to “hide out” from real work. Since this analysis and proofreading and tweaking can be grueling, what are these folks avoiding?

• Risk taking. Once an employee is comfortable with a project, she
feels she knows and has dealt with its potential risks and criticism.
Some employees are not eager to move on to the next opportunity,
which may expose them to greater risk. New things are sometimes
scary. The old familiar feels safer.

• Initiative. Some employees want to be maintenance employees,
not movers and shakers. If you come to them and jump-start them
with your ideas and a sketch of what you want done, they will
compliantly execute what you start. But don’t expect them to come looking for work. Never finishing Project A because it’s being perfected is a great way to avoid doing Project B.

• Not looking smart. If an employee is spending an infinite amount
of time meticulously going over a report, he may be trying to hide his lack of confidence. He may fear that if someone finds an error, that person will conclude that he is dumb, has a poor work ethic, or isn’t qualified for the job. He doesn’t believe that people realize that sometimes a mistake is just a mistake. Expending this much energy on polishing minute details really is dumb—and saps productivity.

Taken From: 201 Ways to Turn Any Employee Into a STAR Performer