What does the Strategic Pitfall Effect mean? Could you explain? A common male misconception about romance heroes is that this dream man — the tall, dark, handsome stereotype — is perfect. This is a complete illusion. Every good hero has at least one glaring flaw. Perfection is an easy writing but any author will tell you that making a hero perfect is the quickest way to turn off the reader. Women don’t want perfection and neither do men. They certainly don’t want to find it. Why? Because at some subtle level, the perceivers realize that they are not perfect themselves. This is called the Strategic Pitfall Effect and it applies to every situation from novels to dating or to the workplace. Strive for perfection, but you’ll be better off by not achieving it.