The devil is in the details

They say that hindsight is 20/20 and that history is a good teacher, and though I generally believe in this, what I have found out is that it does not always ring true.

You knew eating that second slice of cake at midnight was a bad idea – and hindsight confirmed it. So did the weighing scale.

History has warned us about bubbles like those in tech, housing and crypto. But somehow, each time, we still convince ourselves, “This one’s different.”

 Your gut told you that an email from the prince of Nigeria looked suspicious, but curiosity overpowered common sense. Yes, history teaches – but people skip class. Wars have taught us the cost of pride and power-hunger, yet the world keeps inventing new ways to argue, bomb and blame.

Sometimes the past teaches the wrong lesson. One failed business pitch doesn’t mean you should never pitch again. It might just mean you had spinach in your teeth.

“The devil is in the details” is a clever way of reminding us that small things, if overlooked, can lead to significant problems. As someone who believes in the pursuit of excellence in both craft and business, I admit that I’ve sometimes ignored the details in the pursuit of the big picture. But through years of leading, learning, and, yes, correcting mistakes, I’ve come to realize that greatness isn’t found in broad strokes alone – it’s in the brushstrokes we often ignore.

A white tablecloth with one tiny ink stain is technically 99 percent clean. But what will people notice? The stain. Because that’s how the human brain works – we’re wired to spot the flaw. In business, in relationships, in leadership, details either build trust or break it.

Now let’s take a look at history with this perspective in mind.

Walt Disney didn’t just build a brand; he built a legacy. He built a culture obsessed with details. He flew over Disneyland twice a week to inspect cleanliness. A piece of gum on Main Street lasts all of 15 minutes before someone scoops it up. Disney knew that when small things are excellent, the overall experience becomes exceptional.

Details communicate care, and care builds loyalty.

On the flip side, neglecting details can be costly.

• In 1994, a hard-working accountant accidentally forgot the minus sign on a $1.3-billion capital loss in a spreadsheet, which led Fidelity to cancel the dividend distribution announced for the Magellan Fund. It made global headlines. A single oversight overshadowed a career’s worth of diligence. That’s the cruel irony of errors: people often forget all your successes but will remember your slip-up.

• Rick Johnson, CEO of BurJon Steel, gets it. When employees work overtime, he sends flowers and dinner coupons to their spouses. Not because flowers fix fatigue, but because gestures matter. It’s a CEO saying, “I see your sacrifice.” If someone else did it on his behalf, it wouldn’t have the same meaning. The slightest human touch can leave the biggest impression. 

• Harvey Mackay’s envelope company sends birthday cards, remembers chocolate bar preferences and celebrates client milestones. 

Even Founding Father Benjamin Franklin knew the power of precision. When bidding for Pennsylvania’s state printing contract, he accurately reprinted the governor’s speech. No pitch decks, no fancy slogans. Just excellence on paper. He got the deal.

 But when details are neglected? Tragedy. The Challenger space shuttle disaster was traced to a 15-cent rubber O-ring that failed due to cold weather conditions. Brilliant scientists were lost. A multibillion-dollar program derailed – one overlooked component.  

This truth hits even closer to home when the details involve people. 

A wrongly spelled name in a cover letter. 

A mistitled speaker introduction. 

(I’ve been called Mr. Francis Hong, Song, Fong and Long, and you name it!) 

One moment of carelessness becomes a lasting impression. Funny, but after all these years, I still remember the goof-ups.

Philip Crosby, in his book Quality is Free, said it best: “It’s better to build in quality than to inspect for it.” Fixing mistakes costs more than doing it right the first time.

Even in air travel, the small details make or break the passenger’s experience. You could have the best-trained pilots, pristine aircraft and gourmet peanuts, but if your gate agent botches the ticket or your bag goes missing, the whole system feels broken. It takes thousands of people to keep things running, but a single misstep can lose a customer’s trust. 

Here is the lesson: details aren’t just about excellence – they’re about empathy. 

God Himself models this. He says He knows every hair on our heads. He feeds the sparrows and clothes the lilies. That’s divine detail. That’s love in the most minor things.

So, here’s a fresh take on the old phrase:  

Yes, the devil is in the details. But so is discipline, diligence and even divine design. We should not overlook the little things. They may be small, but they’re never insignificant.

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