The Seven Principles · 04 Attention to Detail
Attention to detail is fixing something when you know it can be corrected or improved, rather than carrying on regardless. It means understanding the little details that are required, leaving nothing unaddressed, and getting things as right as you possibly can. And it means developing your understanding and becoming a student of your craft, because you can only address the details you understand.
You develop it during the current task in front of you. You achieve this by correcting the relevant item or piece of work at the point you notice it, and going back to repair anything that you only discover later. Alongside consistent corrections and improvements, study your craft to develop your knowledge and skillset, so that you learn the details that each task requires.
It is not perfectionism: perfectionism tries to get everything flawless, while attention to detail is knowing which details actually matter and getting those to the standard you know is required.
Why the small things decide the result
The bigger things in your performance are built on the small ones. A report or a plan is a series of small judgements, and the quality of the whole is set by the quality of those judgements. Neglect the detail and it shows in the result.
People who perform at a high level pay attention to what others overlook, because they know that carelessness in the small things shows up in the end. When you notice a problem and choose to ignore it, the consequences build over time, because the next piece of work gets built on top of it. Noticing on its own changes nothing: the improvement comes when you make the correction.
You will not match the absolute level of the very best in your field; nobody does except them. What you can do is approach each task with the same care, attention and intent that the best in your field bring to theirs. Attention to detail is that care and intent applied to the task you are working on now.
What are the details that matter?
Not every detail deserves the same effort. Certain details decide whether the result is right, and if you get those wrong the result is wrong, however well you finish everything else. In a report written to support a decision, the accuracy of the figures and the clarity of the recommendation decide whether the report does its job; the formatting does not.
Knowing which details these are is a judgement you build over time, and it is why the principle includes becoming a student of your craft. As you develop your knowledge and skillset, you get better at separating the details that decide the result from the details that only take time.
How do you develop it?
Developing it is a matter of repetition during your work. When you notice something is not right and you know it can be corrected or improved, correct it at that point rather than letting it pass, because each time you let something pass you are rehearsing the opposite habit.
Some things will still get past you, because everyone makes mistakes and no one catches every detail in the moment. What matters is what you do when you find one.
When you drop a standard or make a mistake, rather than just carrying on: go back, repair it, then go again.
That loop is the principle in practice. You achieve two things when you go back: you stop a wrong detail becoming the base of the next piece of work, and you strengthen the habit of noticing and correcting.
Becoming a student of your craft is what the corrections rest on, because you can only correct the details you can see. You become a student by being inquisitive: asking questions, reading, learning from a mentor, and looking closely at why a piece of work succeeded or failed. Becoming an expert in your field and refining your craft is what takes longer; the studying is how you get there. Anders Ericsson, in his research on expertise, found that people improve through practice aimed at specific elements of a skill, with full attention and feedback on each, rather than through repeating the whole task. Studying the detail of your craft is what gives you those specific elements to work on.
Review is where you catch what you missed in the moment, because you will not see everything while you are inside the task. When you finish a piece of work, read it again looking for the points where you let something pass, and when a result comes back wrong, trace it to the detail it started at. And ask someone who knows the craft better than you do: a coach or a mentor can see details you have not learned to see yet.
Is attention to detail what is letting you down?
The seven principles apply at once rather than one at a time, and at any given time one or two of them are the ones letting you down. The cornerstone article puts one question against each principle. For attention to detail, run these against your recent work:
- Am I getting the details right, or carrying on past things I know I could fix?
- When something comes back wrong, do I trace it back and repair it, or paper over it and move on?
- On my current task, can I name the details that decide the result?
- When did I last learn something new about how my craft works?
If these are the questions you find hardest to answer well, this is the principle to work on. If a different principle is the one letting you down, the cornerstone covers all seven, with a check question for each.
Go deeper
This article goes deep on one principle. How You Operate Inside the System sets out all seven and how they run through the five conditions.
The two-minute diagnostic scores you across the five conditions and points you to the right next read and tool.
Work out where you are stuck first. If the details are fine and the problem sits elsewhere, the two-minute diagnostic scores you across the five conditions and points you to the right next read and tool.
Then read the cornerstone: How You Operate Inside the System →
Start with the free 7-Action PDF. Seven actions drawn from performance psychology research, each one explained, each with a practical exercise. You also get the monthly letter, which applies one idea at a time.
Research referred to above: Anders Ericsson on deliberate practice and expertise. The full system, with all sources, is in the manifesto. To put the principle to work, the Performance Workbook is built for exactly that: the critical path, a reflection loop, and a record of the standards you set.