The importance of attention to detail, the zen affect.

I am a broad brush stroke type of man. I see the bigger picture, can plan the grand scheme and can when required put the details necessary for implementation into action, but minutia is not my preferred expertise.

There are however many in management positions who thrive on the myriad of details that are all required to line up in order to produce a chain of events that collectively work together,  yielding the desired results.

Both are critical applications, two sides of the same coin. Both need the same attention for the desired results to be reached.

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending a family event, a large weekend party with over a hundred guests, most traveling far to attend and staying over in near by hotels. Being  friends of the family, my wife and I and my daughter attended both as guests and as kitchen helpers, the support staff, charged with delivering the many meals on time and beautiful in every way, taste of course, presentation and timeliness.

Not an issue, as we had competent experienced friends, women, capable of turning this out in their sleep. I was the sole man in the kitchen, a place I frequently migrate to in such family events and help out as best I can, doing whatever task I am assigned, but never playing a management or decision making role, which is controlled by the women. I find the entire process interesting and I love being a kitchen helper during these type of events, but is it the woman who are in control, appropriately so, it is their territory.

I learned something about attention to detail  during this event, that I never considered before, I call it the zen of detail.

I was charged with cutting up a half dozen large red peppers for inclusion into a bean salad. Not a huge task and certainly not very complicated. I got the usual instructions about size…and off I went for about five seconds when I was given a lesson of how it was really to be done, as obviously I had no idea how to perform this  complicated task..at least to the satisfaction of the head mother.

So I watched, listened, learned and  to my absolute amazement, I was taught to cut the pepper into equal strips and then carefully cut each strip with a zig zag cut creating little tiny triangles.

Equal sized little tiny triangles, which of course, I did, wondering every cut, why would she want equal sized tiny triangles? Was this something about the pepper regarding taste, grain, or something that required such angles which I had never heard about…advanced cooking, perhaps?  What could possibly be the reason for this exercise I pondered, and finally asked, and with a cold stare suggesting my question was totally out of line I was told  ‘it is better this way’…and then with an equally quizzical look she added, seeing I had no idea what she was talking about…’it looks better, all uniform little triangles…much much better. ‘Just do it’ she said, ‘do not question’, and  I immediately jumped to and cut millions of little equally sized triangles out of pepper strips I carefully measured out and cut to uniform size.

When the meal was served I stood next to the bean salad dish and watched the guests scoop out their desired portion, waiting for the oohs and ahhs over the perfect little triangles, and heard no comments at all. Not to be undone, I furthered my research by occasionally mentioning while standing  in line that wow, look at those nice little pepper triangles, to which no one ever responded.

Then getting more aggressive I began poling the line and directly asking what they thought of the bean salad, to which I got many compliments but not a single mention of the triangles. Finally I resorted to the direct question, ‘what do you think about the little red triangles in the bean salad? To which I got blank stares suggesting people were wondering what planet I was from.

My conclusion, not one person out of the hundred noticed the triangles other then the mother in charge who ordered me to perform this task.

Here is what I learned:

The food was terrific and everyone ranted and raved about it. While no one may have noticed the red triangles, everyone said everything was the best. I began to understand the zen of detail. The attention to detail throughout the entire preparation created a vibration of care and consideration. The food was prepared with exacting precision and was all quite excellent. While the guests did not see or understand the commitment to precise preparation, they could feel the care and love that went into the preparation and this enhanced the entire experience for everyone.

Yes the red triangles were invisible, but the bean salad was adored. Recipes were requested and every morsel was eaten with the same appreciation as that which went in to its preparation. The joy of preparation, the attending to the minutia  all helped create the vibration of excellence that while hard to point to specifically was apparent throughout.

My taking the time and effort and putting in the care and consideration to do it the right way, the way the head mother desired, and the way it was  presented, contributed to the aura of excellence that was clearly present, appreciated and admired. It was the details that supported the entire success of the food. The sauce on the salmon, the rolled up silverware, in cloth napkins…all the tiny details, that lead to and supported a terrific experience. Did anyone notice the details? No! But they all had a fabulous, experience and that was a direct result of the commitment to detail that the cooks all adhered too.

The business lesson?…the same attention to the details will portray a business which cares, delivers and has the aura of excellence.

The customers may not see the specifics of the details but they experience the overall vibration, the energy of the business and if detail is attended to, the vibration is very good indeed.

Always remember the little red pepper triangles when you begin to consider eliminating the small painstaking, time consuming, almost invisible details of your process. It is the zen of the details that supports success.

The love and care that went into that meal was truly present in the bean salad because of the little red triangles of pepper…I am convinced.

Make certain you have adequate little red pepper triangles in your business. If not reconsider your process and approach.