Definition
Over-correction is the cybernetic version of swerving too hard. A small error is detected, but the corrective response is larger than the error required, producing a new error in the opposite direction. The next correction then overshoots again, and the system oscillates instead of converging.
Maxwell Maltz lifted the metaphor from torpedo guidance and applied it to human behavior. The skilled performer makes many small corrections, almost invisible. The anxious performer makes few large ones — and ends up zig-zagging through the task, never settling on the line of best fit. The error is not in caring about accuracy; it is in the gain setting of the correction loop.
Why it matters
How it works
A servo with too much gain reads a small distance from target, applies a large correction, lands past the target, reads that as a new error, applies another large correction in the other direction, and oscillates. The same loop happens with a worker who, told their report needs polish, rewrites it from scratch — and then second-guesses the rewrite into incoherence.
Maltz's prescription: when you notice the swerving, deliberately under-respond. Trust the system to settle. Treat the next error not as urgent but as data. The shake-out comes from reducing intensity, not from adding more force.