The Devil Is In The Details

This saying is repeated time and time again but ultimately what does it really mean and why am I talking about it now?

Well for one thing I think about this everyday (something I highly recommend). As an entrepreneur I am constantly asking myself -  what  must I  do to succeed? As a business owner I am daily  making mundane seemingly insignificant decisions about all kinds of things. What do I say in this email to a potential client? What changes, if necessary, do we make in our next client presentation? What does our next blog post discuss? These aren't big picture questions that address the vision of the company, but it is necessary to think about these things. 

I say this, while also keeping in mind, that tomorrow, November 4th, after a long and hard struggle with day to day questions, issues and challenges,  for one individual a supreme goal will be attained; which  reminds me of a quote that says "the grandest of projects depends on the success of the smallest components". As the winners and losers begin coming to terms with their destinies, it's a sentiment to ponder and important to understand.  Although Barack Obama and John McCain's world's and endgames are vastly different from mine, the funamentals (i.e. challenges, strategies, relatiosnship building, etc) are essentially the same.

On a similar note.  Just a couple of weeks ago I was watching one of the major evening news shows  and they were discussing (and showing) never before seen footage of an interview with JFK prior to his running for office.  A reporter was talking with him and Jackie  at their home in Virginia about life and politics.  A few things he said stood out particularly. One of his comments that struck me was when he mentioned how he never really  had any strong interest in politcs. He hadn't felt that it was really one of his  strong points. He said the career and lifestyle didn't really suit his personality. He talked about how running a campaign was a huge undertaking and how you had to be precise in what you do. A short moment later he mentioned the reason why running for the office  of the President of the United States was  such a precarious undertaking. A remark definitely worth highlighting; "the margins are very small between those who fail and those who succeed".  It made me think for a minute.  A very simple  yet  profound statement.  At the end of the day if for whatever reason you are just a few inches to the left instead of a few inches to the right that could determine the difference between a huge success or complete failure. 

Another such example is in Malcolm Gladwell's book "The Tipping Point".  In one of his stories he covers the case of Sesame Street and poses the question: how does a show that came on the air in 1969 continue to be successful almost forty years later?  He asserts that it is a mistake to think that it was a television show conceived in a flash of insight.  What made it unusual and so successful was quite the opposite - the final product was deliberately and painstakingly engineered.  He then goes on and states the legacy of Sesame Street:  If you pay careful attention to the structure and format of your material, you can dramatically enhance success.

Understanding that the devil is in the details makes you pay very close attention to the little things. It's the minutest of issues that will determine whether your ideas, your work or your business flourish and succeed or simply sputter and go absolutely nowhere.

Comments

[Omar Henderson]

I get the point though the "Devil" is in ignoring or avoiding the details. He symbolizes failure and neglecting the details or the little things causes us t fall short of our goals. Good blog.