Why the perfect is so often the enemy of the good

The pressure to project constant perfection undermines the gritty, unglamorous work required to perform at a high level. One of the most striking aspects of Sarah Wynn-Williams’s best-selling memoir, Careless People, about her years at Meta, is the way she portrays Sheryl Sandberg. Contrary to Sandberg’s carefully crafted public image as a levelheaded advocate for working women and their families, she is shown to be narcissistic, mercurial, and hypocritical.