Tag Little Things

Why Little Details Are a Big Deal

Steve Keating Leave a comment

Steve Jobs was a big believer in getting the details right. He said he’d rather wait to launch a product until every detail was exactly right. Professional salespeople know that when details fall through the cracks the sale often does too.

It really doesn’t matter what kind of work you do; details, the “little things,” often make the difference between success and failure. Between winning and losing. Between earning that promotion or being stuck where you are.

They also make a difference in our personal lives. When others know that you will do exactly what you said you would do, exactly when you said you would do it, exactly how you said you would do it, you build trust. Trust is the foundation for every successful, lasting relationship we have.

Details matter, and if you tell yourself they don’t, you are either being lazy or foolish. Possibly both. I know that’s kind of harsh but honesty with yourself is step one in the self-improvement process.

You can become more detail-oriented by focusing on the finer points of commitments, tasks, and projects to ensure accuracy and thoroughness. Here are some strategies to help.

1. Plan and Organize:

◦ Create To-Do Lists: Break down tasks into smaller, manageable steps.

◦ Use Calendars and Schedules: Allocate specific times for tasks and stick to your plan.

2. Develop Good Habits:

◦ Double-Check Work: Always review your work for errors or omissions.

◦ Stay Organized: Keep your workspace and digital files in order to reduce distractions and errors.

3. Practice Mindfulness:

◦ Stay Present: Focus fully on the task at hand and avoid multitasking. Some of you won’t like hearing this, but the only proven benefit of multitasking is that it helps you screw up more than one thing at a time.

◦ Take Breaks: Short breaks can help maintain concentration and prevent burnout.

4. Enhance Observation Skills:

◦ Notice Details: Train yourself to observe and remember small details in everyday life.

◦ Practice Memory Games: Engage in activities that challenge your memory and attention to detail.

5. Utilize Tools and Technology:

◦ Checklists and Templates: Use checklists to ensure you don’t miss any steps in a process. This may seem counterintuitive, but the more repetitive the task, the more beneficial a checklist becomes.

◦ Software Tools: Employ software for task management, proofreading, and data verification.

6. Seek Feedback:

◦ Ask for Input: Get feedback from colleagues or mentors on your work to identify areas for improvement.

◦ Learn from Mistakes: Analyze any mistakes you make to understand what went wrong and how to avoid it in the future.

7. Cultivate a Routine:

◦ Consistent Workflow: Establish a routine that includes regular times for planning, working, and reviewing.

◦ Healthy Habits: Maintain a healthy lifestyle with adequate sleep, exercise, and nutrition to support cognitive function.

8. Develop Patience:

◦ Take Your Time: Allow yourself enough time to complete tasks thoroughly.

◦ Avoid Rushing: Rushing through tasks increases the likelihood of mistakes. As someone much smarter than me once said, “if you don’t have time to do it right the first time, how will you ever have time to do it again?”

9. Focus on Accuracy:

◦ Prioritize Quality: Aim for high-quality work rather than just completing tasks quickly.

◦ Use Resources: Refer to guides, manuals, or experts when in doubt to ensure accuracy. Do not guess.

10. Continuous Learning:

◦ Stay Informed: Keep learning and updating your knowledge in your field. The most successful people learn something from almost every single day. Keep that in mind the next time you think you know enough.

◦ Attend Workshops: Participate in workshops or courses that emphasize attention to detail.

Incorporating these strategies into your daily routine will cause some people to call you anal. You can take comfort in knowing those people are likely pretty sloppy with details. They might be calling you names but you’ll be so far ahead of them you’re be unlikely to hear them.

Improving your attention to detail, like most things in life, is a choice. The sooner you make that choice, the sooner all areas of your life will improve. Why not make that choice today?

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The Wisdom of Brown M&M’s

Steve Keating 2 Comments

You have probably heard the old saying that “the devil is in the details.” Well I don’t know exactly where the devil might be at any given time but he’s not in the details. What’s in the details is success. Little things matter, often they matter a lot. 

 

Van Halen was the first big name band to take huge productions into tertiary, third-level markets. Instead of Detroit Michigan for instance they would do a concert in Lansing or Grand Rapids. They would pull up to the venue with nine eighteen-wheeler trucks, full of gear, where the standard for that kind of arena was three trucks, max. 

 

Their show was a huge production and their standard contract included a rider with a ton of technical specifications, some were meant to improve the production but many were meant to provide a safe environment for both the band and the audience. 

 

The rider included a clause that required bowls of M&M’s to be placed in the band’s dressing room and backstage. Also buried deep inside the rider was this item: “There will be no brown M&M’s in the backstage area, upon pain of forfeiture of the show, with full compensation.”

 

Now the band took a lot of heat for that requirement and as the story goes David Lee Roth would go ballistic upon seeing a brown M&M in the bowl. It made the whole band seem like a bunch of spoiled prima-donnas. 

 

But there was method to their apparent madness. 

 

With literally thousands of technical specifications in their rider they wanted a quick way of determining whether or not the venue had throughly read and complied with the requirements for a safe and successful show. 

 

When the band would walk backstage or into their dressing room and see brown M&M’s, they knew that details had been missed. They knew that if one detail had been missed then it was very likely that other details had been missed too and some of those details could get someone seriously injured or even killed.

 

Every time they saw brown M&M’s they went through the rider with the venue in great detail and always found things that were missed. When they didn’t see brown M&M’s they were able to do a much briefer review of the rider and literally never saw anything else missed.

 

This rock and roll group, notorious for excessive partying and “other” stuff besides their music developed a fool proof way of determining whether or not the venue was paying attention to the little things. 

 

Val Halen knew that the little things make a big difference. They knew that small problems have a way of becoming bigger. They knew that success was in the details. 

 

How about you? Do you settle for “close enough” when excellent is within reach? Does the lazy part of you (yes, almost all of us have a lazy part) “settle” for good enough because great seems like a little too much work? 

 

The most successful people know that either you pay attention to the details now or you will absolutely pay the consequences later. 


What are you paying today?

The Trouble With Trifles

Steve Keating 2 Comments

There is a great book written by Richard Carlson entitled “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.” I knew the book was spot on before I even opened it because the second part of the title is “and it’s all small stuff.” 

 

My sentiments exactly!

 

Anger, especially anger that comes from small stuff, is a terrible master and if you let yours control any part of your life you will be worse off because of it. If you allow “little things” to bother you or add any amount of stress to your life then you are limiting your potential. 

 

My dad used to be a worrier; he allowed most everything, even the very trivial stuff, to bug him. It didn’t take much to cause him worry and it took even less to get his hackles up. Then he heard something far from trivial from his doctor. He heard he needed a heart transplant. 

 

Once he received his new heart he was like a new man. Not only was he physically better but he no longer sweat the small stuff and he truly believed it was all small stuff. 

 

After living decades with his still like new heart he would tell you that all it takes for the day to be great is to wake up. To be given a new day. To have one more chance to enjoy life, that’s all that truly matters. 

 

So before you get yourself worked up, before you add an ounce of stress to your life, before you care about anything, ask yourself if it will matter in 10 years. Ask if it will matter in 10 months, 10 weeks or even in 10 minutes. 

 

If you’re like most people you will discover that it won’t. 

 

A mentor of mine once told me to never underestimate the absolute unimportance of almost everything I did. At first I was offended and then I asked myself those questions. When I was honest with myself I was shocked to discover that most of what I did wouldn’t matter for long. Some of it might matter in 10 minutes, some for 10 weeks but hardly anything was going to matter in even a year much less 10 years down the road. 

 

It was a sobering realization. It’s humbling to realize that most of what you do, most of what you stress over, most of what you’ve convinced yourself is important really doesn’t matter. But it was also a freeing realization. It allowed me to “let go” of the little things that had imprisoned my joy of life. 

 

A trifle is defined as a thing of little value or importance. The trouble with trifles is that we give them undue importance and that allows them to block us from the truly important things that we could be thinking about, we could be talking about or we could actually be doing.

 

The most successful people and the most effective leaders don’t fuss over the trifle stuff. They focus on what matters today and what will still matter tomorrow and for many tomorrows to come. 

 

If you have trouble with trifles then decide today that you won’t be fooled any longer, decide today to focus on what truly matters.