Devil in the Detail
Zeroing in on the detail and checking the facts to ensure all bases have been covered
Results and results only matter.Some people may admire you for the quality for your problem analysis or the brilliance of your ideas. Most will respect you for the actions you take which make a practical difference. Folders and files of data analysis are only relevant if they inform the kinds of decisions that translate into real world outcomes. Otherwise, they sit on the shelf gathering dust. Ensure your analysis concludes with the kind of practical recommendation that makes others sit up in their seats and say, Wow: we need to do something about this.
Trivial Pursuits. As Sherlock Holmes pointed out: “a person should keep their brain attic stocked with all the furniture that they are likely to use, and the rest they can put away in the lumber-room of their library where they can get it if they want it.” In a world of information overload, you cannot know or remember everything. The best strategy then is to know what you need to know and where to look to find it. Don’t waste time attempting to remember every detail of every issue.
Know when “good is good enough”. You’ve done 95% of the job, and you’re pressing on with the final 5%. Before delaying the project or the submission of the proposal, ask:
- will this final 5% really make a significant difference?
- will this 5% of perfection be noticed by anyone but me?
- will the benefit of the 5% outweigh the additional time and opportunity cost?
If yes, complete the 5%. If no, accept that 95% is good enough and press on.
Speed read. Don’t allow your attention to detail and need for accuracy waste important time. Take the time to enjoy the books you read for pleasure and intellectual stimulation. But speed read everything else: the pile of emails, letters, briefing papers, reports and articles on your desk. Speed reading is not Woody Allen’s, I took a speed reading course and read War and Peace in one hour. It’s about Russia. Speed reading is the facility to spot the essential information quickly and retain the key issues to inform your decision making. www.wikihow.com/Learn-Speed-Reading
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Your operating style ensures that you are well prepared. But don’t allow detailed analysis and planning keep you so focused on immediate priorities that you lose sight of the bigger picture. Keep your head up to scan the environment for the possibilities that aren’t right now registering on your radar screen. This is the opportunity. And you get lucky.
Summarise. Detailed reports with statistical appendices have their place. But decision making requires a one pager, a clear summary of the relevant data, well thought through conclusions and recommendations. Don’t get tangled up in data, using complex permutations of further analysis to postpone that moment of truth: what decision needs to be made? Focus on the implications and next steps. www.ehow.com
Don’t aim to make the perfect decision, all the time, every time. Know when a prompt decision based on a guestimate is the best strategy and be prepared to move quickly. Don’t waste time collecting and analysing information that will at best make a modest difference to your decision-making process and at worst result in lost opportunities. Speed based on getting it right 90% of the time is a better life strategy than one that waits to get it right 100% of the time. Accept that you will make your fair share of wrong decisions. And be ready to take advantage of good luck. Sometimes life throws up opportunities, the kind of opportunities that need to be exploited quickly. When they occur don’t hesitate. Don’t abandon your good sense but seize the moment before it disappears.
Play the game or watch from the sidelines. Utilise your talents in critical analysis to generate robust proposals but don’t assume they will always hit the mark. Understand the context, the power inter-play and dynamics of people interactions that will determine acceptance or rejection of your plans. Either join the game to build support for your proposals and manage the politics constructively to your known advantage or accept that you may be right but will never see your ideas implemented.
Don’t give advice when it’s too late. Use your skills in critical analysis before a decision is made, not after. When a bad decision has been made, you can either ignore it or get on with the difficult job of attempting to implement it. Never critique the initial decision. Your analysis might provide a damming indictment of the decision makers. It might make you feel intellectually superior. But it won’t help right now. Even worse, it will alienate those with the tough job of dealing with the consequences of the decision.
Not everyone is reasonable. Don’t get frustrated by others’ irrationality. Intuition and emotion are important factors in decision-making and your appeal to objective facts and logical reason may not always be well received. Don’t expect everyone to admire your mastery of the facts or the brilliance of your brainpower. Many decisions are made, not because they are the best solution to the problem but because they represent the optimal compromise across different stakeholder interests. Know when and how to include an emotional and political appeal within your ideas and proposals.
Numbers lie. Don’t allow a preoccupation with measurement systems and analysis drive your decision making. Use a critical analysis of the lies, lies and damned statistics to inform your thinking. Pie charts, histograms and the other paraphernalia of management information often assume a rigour they don’t deserve. Sharpen up your intuition be spending time with real people, front line employees and customers to explore what lies behind the statistics.
Attack woolly thinking. Others want to persuade you around to their agenda. They want you to do what they want. And arguments are the tactics they use. A good argument consists of a compelling logic that translates solid initial premises into robust conclusions. A bad argument consists of unsustainable premises (assumptions, opinions or spurious facts) with an illogical leap into an indefensible recommendation. Agreeing to weak arguments will tangle you in half-baked plans and projects with potential to distract you from what is important and productive. Be prepared to attack an argument at each and every point in your opponent’s reasoning process. Don’t play the role of difficult and awkward critic. But do zero in on the flaws in others’ proposals to ensure you don’t get caught up in cock-eyed and ultimately damaging plans. www.austhink.org
Look at the picture on the jigsaw box. Don’t allow one aspect of an issue distort your view of the overall problem. You may be the world’s number one expert in one piece of the jigsaw, knowing every detail of that piece. So what? Don’t become so specialist in your problem analysis that you can’t connect your piece of the jigsaw with other parts of the puzzle. Keep well informed to see how your piece connects with other ideas.
Listen to your conscience; don’t manipulate the data to manage your ego. Rely on your immediate instincts to tackle the ethical issues you will face. Statistics and facts can be assembled and analysed to spin a solution you can defend rationally. But does the decision feel right? Is it a decision that makes you feel proud that you are doing the right thing? Will you be happy to see the full facts in tomorrow’s newspaper headlines?
The problems that are problems are people problems. The issues that create the most difficulty are typically the complex problems of people, the tangle of messy emotions and motivations that make up the realities of human nature. Don’t allow your preference for data analysis and rational thinking avoid the fundamental importance of grappling with the people stuff. Your critical analysis may like to clarify a neat cause-and-effect sequence. Accept that most people problems are fuzzy, ambiguous and uncertain, and that you will need to apply common sense, life wisdom and intuitive judgement.
Don’t “over think”. The kind of critical analysis which generates solutions through an objective appraisal of the problem is powerful. But there is a mental process - “over think” - in which we work ourselves into a tangle of confusing ideas and emotions, a confusion which makes practical decision making impossible. “Over think” includes:
- “rant and rave”; the angry and aggressive thoughts about others who are ruining our lives
- “psycho-analysing”: replaying a difficult event over and over again, re-examining the issues from different angles and scrutinising others’ motivation
- “chaotic”: a turbulent set of thoughts in which a rush of unconnected negative feelings build up and no constructive conclusion is possible.
Don’t allow your natural tendency to pick out the details become “over think” and you lose control of your objective thought processes.