Have you ever have one of “those” mornings? I walked into my kitchen looking for one thing: a place to set my hot cup of coffee. I found lots of things: my son’s homework, a magazine, toys on the table, a book I’ve been meaning to read. So, I did what many of us do; I pushed it all aside to make a spot for my cup.
Hey, I’m not perfect.
What happened next reminded me of a Rube Goldberg cartoon. You know, the ones where the knife cuts the string releasing the balloon that strikes the match and so on. The magazine pushed the toy that moved the book that nudged a box of crayons (which I had not seen) into my wife’s coffee cup, which was perched on the last quarter inch of table.
So, there I was, sweeping up glass instead of drinking coffee. And I had only myself to blame.
Ever notice how one little thing sets so many other things into motion? Maybe a few more minutes of planning or risk analysis would have served me well that day. The same can actually be said for every day.
A German saying dating back to the 13th century says, “Die Weisen sagen uns, ein Nagel behält ein Eisen, ein Eisen ein Ross, ein Ross ein Mann, ein Mann ein Burg, der stritten kann.”
Translated: “The wise tell us that a nail keeps a shoe, a shoe (keeps) a horse, a horse (keeps) a knight (or man), a knight, who can fight, (keeps) a castle.”
Or, as Benjamin Franklin put it:
For want of a nail the shoe was lost;
For want of a shoe the horse was lost;
For want of a horse the battle was lost;
For the failure of battle the kingdom was lost — All for the want of a horse-shoe nail.
Little things matter. Small things are often connected to much bigger things. In the aviation world, crews use the analogy of the error chain — a sequence of critical events that lead up to a bigger accident. If the chain is broken, the error is stopped and the outcome changes.
Ever heard the saying, “If you walk by a mistake, it becomes the new standard”? If we let mistakes pass, they compound and amplify. Lack of attention to detail with small things can have unintended and sometimes catastrophic consequences, whether on the firing range, on the flightline or at the kitchen table.
Likewise, a small positive gesture can ripple through an organization with surprising speed. If you take the time to encourage another Airman with something as simple as a smile or a word of kindness, they will be certain to pay it forward.
If you set the example, demonstrate the standard and stand up for what is right, others will too.
Have you ever forced yourself to smile? Did it eventually improve your mood?
In a book published in 2005, the author described the effect facial expressions have on changing one’s mood. In experiments, people were tricked into smiling by holding a pen between their teeth while reading a humorous article. Others were set up to frown by holding the pen between only their lips. The smile group got the joke much more often. The implication is, to some degree, you can choose your mood by establishing your attitude ahead of time.
I believe performance works the same way. Small things matter, and you can choose to make things better. I think there is a performance-pride-satisfaction triangle. It’s sort of like my first chief told me, “If you look sharp, you feel sharp. When you feel sharp, you act sharp. And when you act sharp, you are sharp.”
When I perform well, I am proud of my work. When I’m proud of my work, my job satisfaction is greater and leads to higher performance. Since I noticed that, I’ve made a conscious effort to feed that cycle — find satisfaction in my successes, learn from my mistakes and take pride in getting the little things right.
I encourage you to make a decision now to improve your performance (and your satisfaction) and that of your unit — treat your peers and those you lead like all-stars, and they’ll rise to become all-stars. Treat them like you’d like to be treated. Be the boss you wish you had. Practice getting the small things right. Make it a habit, and it will spread.
We are the best Air Force in the world, and no one else can do what we do. We didn’t get here overnight or all at once. Lots of little things came together, sometimes in unexpected ways, to make it happen. Make a decision to keep us there — take the time to get the small things right, because everything counts.
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Have you ever have one of “those” mornings? I walked into my kitchen looking for one thing: a place to set my hot cup of coffee. I found lots of things: my son’s homework, a magazine, toys on the table, a book I’ve been meaning to read. So, I did what many of us do; I pushed it all aside to make a spot for my cup.
Hey, I’m not perfect.
What happened next reminded me of a Rube Goldberg cartoon. You know, the ones where the knife cuts the string releasing the balloon that strikes the match and so on. The magazine pushed the toy that moved the book that nudged a box of crayons (which I had not seen) into my wife’s coffee cup, which was perched on the last quarter inch of table.
So, there I was, sweeping up glass instead of drinking coffee. And I had only myself to blame.
Ever notice how one little thing sets so many other things into motion? Maybe a few more minutes of planning or risk analysis would have served me well that day. The same can actually be said for every day.
A German saying dating back to the 13th century says, “Die Weisen sagen uns, ein Nagel behält ein Eisen, ein Eisen ein Ross, ein Ross ein Mann, ein Mann ein Burg, der stritten kann.”
Translated: “The wise tell us that a nail keeps a shoe, a shoe (keeps) a horse, a horse (keeps) a knight (or man), a knight, who can fight, (keeps) a castle.”
Or, as Benjamin Franklin put it:
For want of a nail the shoe was lost;
For want of a shoe the horse was lost;
For want of a horse the battle was lost;
For the failure of battle the kingdom was lost — All for the want of a horse-shoe nail.
Little things matter. Small things are often connected to much bigger things. In the aviation world, crews use the analogy of the error chain — a sequence of critical events that lead up to a bigger accident. If the chain is broken, the error is stopped and the outcome changes.
Ever heard the saying, “If you walk by a mistake, it becomes the new standard”? If we let mistakes pass, they compound and amplify. Lack of attention to detail with small things can have unintended and sometimes catastrophic consequences, whether on the firing range, on the flightline or at the kitchen table.
Likewise, a small positive gesture can ripple through an organization with surprising speed. If you take the time to encourage another Airman with something as simple as a smile or a word of kindness, they will be certain to pay it forward.
If you set the example, demonstrate the standard and stand up for what is right, others will too.
Have you ever forced yourself to smile? Did it eventually improve your mood?
In a book published in 2005, the author described the effect facial expressions have on changing one’s mood. In experiments, people were tricked into smiling by holding a pen between their teeth while reading a humorous article. Others were set up to frown by holding the pen between only their lips. The smile group got the joke much more often. The implication is, to some degree, you can choose your mood by establishing your attitude ahead of time.
I believe performance works the same way. Small things matter, and you can choose to make things better. I think there is a performance-pride-satisfaction triangle. It’s sort of like my first chief told me, “If you look sharp, you feel sharp. When you feel sharp, you act sharp. And when you act sharp, you are sharp.”
When I perform well, I am proud of my work. When I’m proud of my work, my job satisfaction is greater and leads to higher performance. Since I noticed that, I’ve made a conscious effort to feed that cycle — find satisfaction in my successes, learn from my mistakes and take pride in getting the little things right.
I encourage you to make a decision now to improve your performance (and your satisfaction) and that of your unit — treat your peers and those you lead like all-stars, and they’ll rise to become all-stars. Treat them like you’d like to be treated. Be the boss you wish you had. Practice getting the small things right. Make it a habit, and it will spread.
We are the best Air Force in the world, and no one else can do what we do. We didn’t get here overnight or all at once. Lots of little things came together, sometimes in unexpected ways, to make it happen. Make a decision to keep us there — take the time to get the small things right, because everything counts.