I
sweat the details. I always have. Both my parents, but especially my dad, are
detail-oriented people. My wife pays
close attention to the details. My kids
are detail oriented as well. A couple of
us (me?) are maybe even detail obsessed!
It is frustrating to all of us when people do not pay attention to the
details. I recall hearing a statement
and then reading a book that was called Don’t
Sweat the Small Stuff, and some people add on to it and say, “it’s all
small stuff.” I guess it depends on
perspective, and I do know that for those that are of the “don’t sweat it camp”
they are basically talking about stress relief.
But that being said, try as I may to “not sweat it,” it is my opinion
that details are important and cannot be ignored.
In
the classroom there are examples on both sides of the teacher-student
relationship. For example, as much as
teachers try to be clear and concise in their explanation, from time to time
they over look a small important point.
Without that information a common result is confusion on behalf of the
students. On the other side, a skill
that a lot of students lack is writing in a detailed manner. “Give me the details!” is often heard when
proofing or correcting a student’s writing.
I
deal with a lot of incidents where something has happened to a student and I
let them tell their story before I start asking questions and so often they
leave out the details, which are critical because the details tell the
story. I alluded to it earlier, but it
amazes me that details are seemingly skipped over. I generally start the student over, slow them
down, and ask a lot of questions to get to the details.
I
see it all the time in athletics. We are
in an era where kids play a lot of games, but have paid little attention to the
fundamentals. The fundamentals are the
details, and even then there are details to the details. Coaching softball, I see a lot of pitchers
that do not snap their wrist at release or do not get up on top of their drag
toe on their drive foot, two little things that can mean the difference of up
to five or six mph. In basketball the
angle of release with their shooting arm it critical to increasing the odds
that they will make a shot.
As
I have visited both our chorus and band rooms, instructors hone in on what
appear to the untrained ear as very subtle differences, but in when you hear
the entire group make an adjustment, the difference in sound is
incredible.
Another
example that I cannot believe is overlooked is proofreading. Students hate to proofread, but it is
incredible what a difference it makes when you do! I proof nearly everything I write, or in some
instances ask my secretary to do so. And
even then, I miss things. Young writers
that do not proofread generally turn in papers with a ridiculously high number
of errors. Why not proofread? Perhaps it is because there is a desire to be
done, and by proofreading there may still be work to do!
All
of this is kind of like reading the fine print.
In the cyber world, people have found that if they do not read the fine
print, it may cost them thousands of dollars.
Consumers have recently been successfully sued because they have posted
derogatory comments online about certain companies in violation of conditions
they agreed to, but did not bother to read.
It was in the fine print.
It
is easy for the sake of time or convenience to skip over the details. It takes a lot of work when it comes to
taking care of the details. However, if
a job is going to be done well, one must make certain to pay attention to
them. Otherwise, something important
will most likely be left out, and it could be costly in the long run.
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