Sweep The Corners

Today's Marketing Cookie reminds us that the devil is in the details.

In the first company I founded, my business partner used to always say, "Sweep the corners, and the center of the room will take care of itself." It was true. If you take care of the little tiny items on your to-do list first, your attention will be much more focused by the time you get to the really big stuff. Otherwise, you will be trying to do the work that is needed on the giant project and then be constantly pestered by the twelve little things that are still hanging out there. You can try to ignore them for a time, but eventually, the squeaky wheel will demand your attention and disrupt your focus away from the big project, increasing the chance that you will make a mistake.

I could tell you many examples of where paying attention to the little details brought me success, but I would rather tell you about the time when I first learned this lesson.

When I was thirteen years old, I used to babysit for four little boys. Before the mother and father went out and left me with their little guys, they asked me to please water their Christmas Tree before it completely dries out. I said that I would. Did I do it right away? No. I had a full day planned for those little tykes and I was excited to get started right away. We made artwork, we played a whole bunch of games, and we had an incredibly fun day! Right after dinner, they were all tucked into their beds and completely zonked out.

When the mother and father returned home late that evening, it was discovered that I had neglected to water the Christmas Tree. It was as dry as a bone. I had promised to do something that was important to them, but because I put it off until later, I totally forgot. The other thing that my business partner used to always say to me was, "One mess-up kills a thousand atta-boys." That, as it turns out, was true too. In fact, all the amazing fun things their boys had been doing all day were dismissed because I forgot to complete the one tiny detail they had asked of me. So, as today's fortune says, "Don't ignore minor details; they are the key to your success."

P.S.: I think it's funny that whoever wrote today's fortune forgot to pay attention to the details of basic grammar... but hey, no one is perfect.