“The truth is in the details,” began the director in a recent interview. This was his motto, he told me. This was the reason why the company has been so successful for the last several decades. He continued to tell the story of the founder who built the business and company culture on this very belief: if you stay true to the details of what you build, develop, create or innovate, you will be able to withstand the uncertainties of an ever-changing business landscape.
This company motto resonates. During recent conversations with clients about the challenges they face with some of their colleagues and team members, I am hearing a common theme: we are being challenged with rebuilding trusted relationships with clients and reworking projects, yet there is a negative impact on the balance sheets due to certain colleagues who take short-cuts by using technology to do the work rather than using technology as a tool to "help" with efficiencies and processing.
It seems that this new year jumpstarts with a general feeling of a lack of time that directly effects quality of work, with the greatest time eater being the “double work” or “corrections” to make up for those who take shortcuts.
Let it be known that there are no shortcuts in business. A shortcut doesn't enhance a project and it definitely doesn't grow a client relationship. The motto, "the truth is in the details," means that everything we do is in the details. Spend the time to start with a strong foundation so that every project has a successful launch. Take the time to write out the details of what needs to be accomplished on any project. Though it may seem like it's spending more time, it's time well spent. As one person voiced in a recent meeting, "I spent three hours mapping out a plan and realized afterwards that I had a time-saving efficiency plan for the next 90 days -- and it was a huge relief."
I know we all confront the challenges of time on a daily basis. Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate the value-added time-saving efficiencies we have merged into our daily operations, from borderless communication channels to instantaneous collaborative sharing in various locations and ways to deliver information with a click of the mouse. Yet for all the positive aspects that the technological impact has had on our day-to-day lives, we are diminishing our capacity for critical thinking, building human-to-human relationships, and learning and passing on knowledge.
Take time to explore the bigger picture. Cutting corners and taking shortcuts do not help you get ahead, they often set you back.
