Today, I worked to prepare for important negotiations. After the conversation, I was not satisfied with the results. I realized that my attention to detail in my preparation was lacking; I definitely could have done better.
If you’re working on something strategic, think about it really carefully. When a situation is important and unpredictable, check every outcome and detail, controlling everything perfectly. Well, as far as possible. Sounds like the preaching of an excessively rigorous second-grade teacher, right?
Anyway, it’s true – but only for really high-impact tasks where the end result carries significant cost or reward.
The catch: there are very few such projects in most professions (of course, this does not apply to surgeons or rocket scientists).
So, for the most part, you probably could do things without overthinking.
And the most rational way to handle ANY task is assessing the required level of attention to detail before starting to work.
But we’re not accustomed to working this way. We tend to do all tasks with a very similar level of detail.
I am going to train into the habit of asking myself, “What level of detail and care does this certain task require?” In the long run, it will save a lot of time and bring better results to critical projects.
