Attention to Detail is Sexy

You’d think there are a lot of important things to take care of when you’re fighting a war. And, there are, but I was surprised to read the following quote from General Sherman, whose leadership paid huge dividends to the Union army during the American Civil War:

“The fate of an army may depend on a buckle.”

I think attention to detail is sexy. While it’s counterintuitive, I find it notable that while engaged in a war of incomprehensible consequence, Sherman isn’t just writing in his journals about tactics, weapons, and soldiers. He is maniacal about tidiness in his uniform and equipment. 

There is an unmistakable elegance to what matters in the most intense environments. Where there are endless unknowable and consequential things to account for, the best in the world obsess over the smallest controllable parts of the job. 

Think about how a base jumper thinks about zippers and knots.