Detail Oriented :: Why the Difference Between a 2 and a 3 is Important
If you tried to reach me by phone or email this morning, you couldn’t. I was unreachable. To my surprise, our office had no phone or Internet.
Our service provider mistakenly disconnected our service. How did it happen?
Well, it comes down to the difference between a “2″ and a “3″. We are moving to a new location at the end of the month - the 30th to be exact. Yet somehow today, the 20th, we lost our telecommunications.
Detail #1Â
My guess is that someone got careless with the details and typed a “2″ instead of the intended “3″.
It is a little detail, but it comes with big consequences. Obviously, the absence of Internet slowed our productivity, but anyone who attempted to call us heard an inconvenient disconnected message. Within several hours, they had the Internet back up and running, and we had a phone line. But they did forget another important detail.
Detail #2
They assigned us the wrong phone number upon reactivation.
Now after a few more hours, the mistakes have been corrected. In hindsight, I am amazed that the difference between a “2″ and a “3″ can fester into so much extra work.
The Moral
It is better to spend a few extra seconds to pay attention to details than it is to spend hours trying to correct a mistake. Make it a habit to double check your work. Proofread. Think before you act.
When you do make a mistake, learn from it. Do not let yourself make the same mistake twice. And above all else, remember there is a big difference between a “2″ and a “3″.
