It’s In The Details

I was recently working on a project and was finding it quite frustrating and challenging. I found myself being unproductive, putting it off and being resistant to actually completing the project. I think we have all been there at some point. Before becoming completely overwhelmed, I took a break from the project and tried to look at what was happening as objectively as possible. What I realized was that while I was interested in the overall project and the impact it could have, I had not a drop of interest in dealing with the specific details that I had to pay attention to for this portion of the project. Once I realized this, I was able to reset, call on colleagues for support, and get through this part of the project efficiently and move on to the portion of the project that interested me most.

On the majority of job descriptions, there is almost always a sentence  “must have strong attention to detail” while attention to detail is critical to any role, and some people have superhero-like ability to pay attention to the smallest details, many of us have an affinity to certain details. It almost goes without saying that if you enjoy the details of what you are doing, you will have more success, greater enjoyment, etc. We can all learn to pay attention to details, but what are those details that you truly enjoy? How do you know what details those are?

Details are the differentiator, they can solve the case, win the game or race, make someone or something stand out. What details make you stand out (personally, professionally)? If you don’t like your answer to that question think about this one. What details do you enjoy?