Category Archives: detail

Adjust to Penny

The title of this post will be familiar to those who have worked with me.  That’s because it’s the description I would give to a journal entry where I was adjusting a particular balance by a few cents, in order to bring the balance into agreement with reality.  Some of you are now saying to yourself, “Just a couple posts ago, he talked about paying attention to detail and now he is saying he would arbitrarily adjust a balance giving only ‘Adjust to ‘Penny’ as his reason.  Isn’t he contradicting himself?”

I am not contradicting myself, but I know you’ll need a reason why I’m not.  Continue reading →

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Attention to Detail

I just read a long piece in Sports Illustrated entitled “The Sabanization of College Football” written by Andy Staples.  It was yet another confirmation of something I learned a long time ago and have seen repeated time and time again in life – the most successful people in ANY field are always the ones who pay the most attention to the details of whatever it is they are trying to accomplish.

The purpose of the article was to show why Nick Saban, the head football coach at the University of Alabama, has been so successful (he’s won 2 of the last 3 national championships).  To give just a small slice of why, here is an excerpt from the article:

 

“Instead of thinking about the scoreboard, think about dominating the man on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage.  Instead of thinking about a conference title, think about finishing a ninth rep in the weight room.  Instead of thinking about graduating, think about writing a great paper for Intro to Psych.”

 

As you can see, Mr. Saban is intensely interested in making sure the people he is leading are focused on all the little things they need to do in order to be successful.  Continue reading →