It was a betrothal function at a friend’s place. He prides himself on his planning, organization and execution capabilities. The arrangements vindicated him. The reception was warm, the hall perfectly air conditioned, the seating royal, the backdrop splendid, the menu elaborate, the music soothing and the ambience pleasing. The note of betrothal had been printed in silk, rolled and kept in a silver casket, which was on stage. This had to be read out by both parties at an auspicious time as a token of respective consent for the alliance. The well groomed lad and the well decked girl walked together to the stage. It was time for the notes to be read out; they were taken from the caskets and opened. As the groom’s father started reading it out over the mike, the power went off and the hall turned dark; he had to stop! Power cut had played spoilt sport and made the moment appear inauspicious to the sentimentally superstitious in the group, including the groom’s father. It took a while before the generator was turned on and normalcy returned. The groom’s father finished reading with a dead pan face.
Given the power cuts, the auspicious time could have been cross checked earlier; the generator could have been switched on to ensure uninterrupted power supply at that time. The generator having had a minor breakdown that day only added to the woes. It took longer to supply power. The devil had played its way into the program through this detail. (That the issue was handled well on the wedding day and the couple is living ‘happily ever after’ is a different story)
It is said that trifles make perfection but perfection is no trifle. A little reflection would have a whole lot of trifles rush into our mind which have made or marred our days – both in our routine and on special occasions. Each of us would have reams of paper filled with more of misses than hits: those silly mistakes in school day arithmetic, getting a name wrongly spelt on an invitation card, missing the birthday of a loved one, not packing the medicine kit on a holiday and so on. Details taken care of become angels saving the day. Those missed out take various forms: from imps of embarrassment at least to goblins of disgrace at worst.
A splendid cook showcases himself in the way he chooses and combines the proportions of his ingredients; his thoroughness accounts for his uniqueness. The marvel of an art or dexterity of a skill is in the attention to detail, distinguishing the magnificent from the mediocre. It is diligence that differentiates the proficient from the also-rans in all fields. Be they artists or professionals, shallowness is a sure fire recipe to failure. Superficiality in approach and sheer carelessness tempt fate.
To move between a bird’s eye-view for the macro and a worm’s eye-view for the micro is a skill in itself. Checking out options for decision making, playing out possible scenarios for problem solving, understanding multiple stakeholder perspectives and analyzing from various dimensions entail detailing. These processes are needed to plan with precision and execute with exactitude. Meticulousness in implementation demands attention to details, self awareness and sensitivity to other stakeholders at every step till logical closure. ‘Care for perfection’ is a habit that increases our chances of success.
While detailing differentiates the ‘good’ from the ‘great’, micro detailing can be wasteful and valueless as much as micro-managing can be counter-productive. This is best displayed in the imagery of a self conscious millipede that went into details of each of its legs to decide which one was the best to put forward first!! Getting into details without being obsessed with trivia is an art that needs practice; the nuance of balancing can be learnt over time. Losing sleep over a postal stamp pasted upside down is meaningless. That crosses into the realms of obsession from that of precision.
The simple rhyme ending with “And all for the want of a horseshoe nail” captures the essence of detailing at its best with the kingdom being lost for want of a nail. Knowing the horse shoe nails in our life, we need to nail them down with attention and awareness. Then, the angel would transform self-conscious awkward smiles to self-confident assured smiles.
(The writer may be contacted at smilinglyyours7@gmail.com)
