No topic is more important to our future than than the proper management of the power-delivery assets that generate the revenues that provide our livelihoods.

Of course, we need robust asset-management tools, and we need to populate those tools with accurate data, and we need a decision tree to make good investment decisions. But we also need a culture that provides an environment where we can execute those decisions without fear of being beat up by management.

We need an environment where we feel free to include management in understanding the risks of taking action, but also the risks of doing nothing. We need a culture where we are encouraged to reach higher, and in so doing, to make decisions that are “better than perfect.”

I'll get back to the better-than-perfect concept in a minute, but first let me ask you a question: Do you work for a company that is so obsessed with avoiding major mistakes it misses major opportunities?

Sadly, too many of us who work in electric utilities would answer in the affirmative.

Utility culture is often toxic to those who dare to innovate, but that shouldn't stop us from trying. Each of us has the ability to affect the culture in our companies regardless of the role we play in our organizations.

I'd like to float a theory proposed by Dale Dauten. In his book Better than Perfect, Dauten states that those of us who aim for perfection end up limiting our impact.

Contrast that to those individuals who refuse to follow conventional wisdom, but who challenge it instead. And in the main, these characters, who can be found at any level within an organization, somehow manage not only to survive but to thrive. Not satisfied with avoiding mistakes, they think big and act big, and in so doing, they make a big difference.

What makes these individuals so effective? They move away from traditional thinking to what Dauten calls “hyper-logic,” taking giant steps in logic that enable them to deliver more than could be expected. And they don't wait until they have sufficient time, resources and information to begin. They start the journey before the path is cleared.

Dauten believes creativity is the competitive advantage and that perfectionism kills creativity. I agree with Dauten when he says, “Where there is certainty, there is no discovery.”

Here is how to spot better-than-perfect individuals:

• They do more than their job.

• They help others be more than they thought they were capable of being.

• They go beyond the reasonable, logical thing.

• They are open-minded, courageous, compassionate.

• They are loveably unreasonable.

• They turn life into an adventure.

This is quite a contrast to the traditional management culture. See if this sounds like a directive your management might give you: “Work hard, do what you're told, do it 60 hours a week and don't screw up.” Or put in political speak: “Do the right things right.”

That was the mantra preached when I was at Georgia Power. Can you hear the “perfect” mentality being preached? Seeking perfection is quite intimidating and can be exhausting because we can never quite get there. We can never quite measure up.

Let's change the paradigm to deliver results that are greater than our management could have imagined. Let's not limit ourselves with an individual decision applied at a point in time to resolve a specific need. Instead, let's work together to deliver suboptimal, lower-cost solutions today and save some of the resources that might have been expended being perfect for later investment when more effective, lower-cost equipment, software and technologies become available.

Most utilities are obsessed with avoiding what I classify as active mistakes. At the same time, they are willing to accept the risk inherent in doing nothing. Why? For the most part, we work in a risk-adverse culture that tends to avoid the aging infrastructure elephant in the room, hoping that the elephant won't be put down on our watch.

But I also would postulate that each of us, as individuals, has an incredible opportunity to influence our company and our company's culture.

You might know that I worked in research for 22 years. My cohorts and I were always looking for ways to get the most out of our existing assets. And I might have faced more than my share of internal obstacles. But looking back, I realize that the biggest impediment I faced was the flawed thinking between my own ears. I held myself back because I had a limited understanding of what I could personally affect.

I would challenge each of you to rethink your jobs and your profession. Instead of going with the flow, challenge convention and pour yourself into your passions. And if your company is truly limiting, switch companies. Nothing feels better than a professional itch that has been thoroughly scratched.