Why Attention To Detail Is Bullshit And Might Cost You A Fortune
People spend FAR too much time on things that end up NOT MATTERING.
The size of a logo. The font of a sentence. A word or two in that one document that never, EVER seems to get done.
In an ideal world, such things are passed over — spared barely a moment’s thought…
But that would be too easy.
How many times have you seen a project delayed for the sake of some nearly inconsequential element?
Too many.
The excuse for focusing on these things? Attention to detail.
But ultimately…
The Big Things Matter More Than The Small Ones.
Duh, right?
Yet, STILL, people spend extraordinary amounts of time (and therefore money) on the details. The small things.
They’ll agonize over a single website image that serves mainly as garnish…
Yet will spend barely any thought on how to actually get traffic to that homepage. What the headlines say. Or who they’re actually targeting.
Things that are actually PROVEN to matter MORE.
Worse, these decisions can stop an entire team in its tracks.
But I don’t really blame them.
I’ve contributed to it a time or two myself.
We often can’t “unsee” certain things once we’ve noticed them.
It’s the way we’re built.
We Focus On Are The Things We Feel Most Strongly About.
Here’s some food for thought.
Most of the time…
There’s NO correlation between what we feel is important and what is ACTUALLY important.
For instance, research has shown that the more difficult we PERSONALLY find a decision, the more time and effort we consider it worth. This leads to decision “quicksand” over trivial decisions.
But it’s not just that…
I mean, people have DIED fighting over a game where a bunch of grown men kick a ball around.
No offence to those who enjoy it…
But c’mon, they weren’t even the ones playing!
The point is, we feel an inexplicable level of passion for certain things.
In general? That’s great. If we didn’t get randomly emotional, we would all be robots (which don’t make great marketers, no matter what Google tells you).
But that doesn’t work in business.
When you are so adamantly opposed to how the new email signature looks that you spend days trying to get everyone in agreement on YOUR solution…
You’ve fucked up.
Multiply instances like that by the number of people involved and the time spent…
And You Have A Truly Disgusting Amount Of Time And Money Wasted.
Because when it comes down to it…
Most of these decisions don’t make a significant difference one way or another.
Meetings in general are a huge waste of time and money. But some are worse than others.
I’ve been in meetings with clients that have lasted for HOURS…
To discuss something like the wording of a single blog post.
Imagine it was this post.
Pretend that we were discussing this very sentence — THIS sentence right here.
Did the wording of that change a damn thing?
Now further, consider that sometimes, five or more people participated…
That’s a few hundred (even a few THOUSAND) dollars worth of time utterly wasted.
And while you may not be in the position to stop it all from going on around you, you can at least stop YOURSELF.
This is the question I ask myself when I have that urge to go on a passionate rant.
What’s The Absolute WORST Thing That Can Happen If We Get This Wrong?
Out of all possible decisions, if we choose the WORST one for this particular task…
What is the reaction to that? What are the consequences for the company?
In the vast majority of cases…
The answer is very little.
Not too long ago, I was looking at a website mocked up for a new landing page.
There wasn’t enough white space.
I spent minutes pondering this. Fuming over it. How could the designer get this wrong? Didn’t he see how crowded it looked? I had half of a blistering criticism typed out in an email, ready to send…
Then reality hit.
What was I doing?
Even if we DID actually spend the time to have the designer shift the spacing, the level of conversion the page produced would probably be identical.
I relate this sad story to help illuminate that, yes, it can happen, and probably does, to all of us.
In most cases, it just isn’t worth it.
Especially when…
Speed Is Probably One Of The Biggest Factors In Rapid Growth!
If you don’t move quickly, you can’t test quickly.
Slow testing means fewer successes.
Which means you have little chance of hitting that one BIG success that will catapult you to the next level.
Rapid iteration leads to success…
Which means cutting out wasted time on things that don’t matter.
When In Doubt, Follows The Amazon Way
I certainly don’t agree with Jeff Bezos on everything — but I do like how he prioritizes problems.
He groups them into two types.
Type 1: “Decisions [that] are consequential and irreversible or nearly irreversible — one-way doors. These decisions must be made methodically, carefully, slowly, with great deliberation and consultation”
Type 2: “Decisions [that are] changeable, reversible — they’re two-way doors. If you’ve made a suboptimal Type 2 decision, you don’t have to live with the consequences for that long. You can reopen the door and go back through. Type 2 decisions can and should be made quickly by high judgment individuals or small groups.”
It’s all a result of asking that one question: what is the worst that can happen?
Let the people with ownership handle Type 2 decisions. Spend more time on the things that matter MORE.
And I should say…
The Ability To Notice Detail Is Undeniably Good…
But is the tendency to focus on them?
Not so much.
I remain unconvinced that the level of perfection most companies aim for is actually a GOOD thing, compared to what it costs.
My bottom line:
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Get more shit done.
Read this far? A favor, if you would…
Whether you agree with what you’ve just read, or just want to explain to me how utterly WRONG I am…
Comments, claps, and shares make my day.
This is the totally shameless tip jar on the counter… and my end of article call-to-action (because I try to practice what I preach).
Originally published at numberglutton.com.
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