Manager's Briefcase
Stuck in the Details
by Laurie Ginn, Program Attorney, The National Judicial College

Ants may march one by one, but details seem to march endlessly.  A project’s details arrive seemingly without end and can overwhelm, especially when you are working on more than one project at a time.  Take the time to examine the whole picture, not just the details rushing at you, as the project is now and from a future viewpoint.

To stop the steady stream of endless details, what do you need to do? 

• Stop to gain perspective. 
• Do not take on too many details at one time.

When a project is started and stopped, momentum is lost, and retracing prior work is frustrating. When possible, systematically deal with items through to completion. Dealing with a detail once makes success feel possible.  Prioritize the substantive details, those affecting the project’s outcome, to promote the project’s successful outcome. 

Outcome Defining Details

The details that require the most attention are the details that define the final outcome.  The majority of the details and minutia will not define the project.  The details that immediately require your attention are the details that will set the project apart on the grand scale and make the project’s accomplishments memorable.

Details In The Air

The first step is to sift through the details.  Take the time to look at the project from a distance.  When you change your viewpoint, it is easier to pinpoint the details and possibly see other details that would otherwise be missed. 

Think about the project.  Determine the attack and prioritize the details.  Take each decision in turn and classify the details to determine their importance.  Classify or envision each detail as one of three kinds of balls:  a crystal ball, a tennis ball, or a super elastic ball. Reexamine the detail’s classification periodically as any detail’s classification can change over time.

Crystal Ball 

The critical details are the crystal ball details.  Crystal balls contain the most significant details and will cause devastation if not dealt with appropriately.  Crystal details may be big or small but are defined by how the detail impacts you or the project.  Complying with state law, grant requirements, or mandates are crystal details.  Any detail that defines the project is crystal. 

If you consistently think of a detail, that detail is a crystal ball detail.  For example, a phone call you have put off may not be a crystal ball detail, but the fact that you are constantly thinking of that phone call elevates it to a crystal ball detail.  Crystal ball details are often the keys to getting to the underlying project.  When you get through the crystal ball details, you may be rewarded by working on another aspect of the project.

Tennis Ball

Tennis balls contain the details that do not require immediate attention.  The tennis ball details still impact the project but can wait for another day or further consideration.  The opportunity to determine the details in a sequential fashion or in a broader context allows greater perspective into the project, and is a golden opportunity.  Rather than considering what you should have done in hindsight, which is painful, the tennis ball detail allows you to have a degree of foresight. 

The key to the tennis ball details is the realization that everything does not have to be decided immediately.  The overwhelming pressure from the details reduces.  When temporarily left for another day, the tennis ball details will bounce rather than break. 

The tennis ball detail, however, will not wait forever; if forgotten, may transform very quickly into a crystal ball detail. 

Super Elastic Ball

Super elastic balls contain the details that are not critical and can be left for an extended time, or sometimes omitted altogether.  Super elastic ball details impact the project but either do not impact the project’s content, can be put off for a while, or are the final details that can wait until the project’s end.  The paper color, for example, may wait until a short time before the project is due.  Items that you can pick up at a local store that do not need to be special ordered are super elastic ball details. 

Super elastic ball details may transform into tennis balls or if neglected, even crystal balls.

Celebrate the Dividends
 
Dealing with a detail and knowing that the detail is finished is a major dividend. Acknowledge the dividends throughout the project.  The completed project contains the dividends’ profits received over the project’s life.  Keep the overwhelming feeling away by conquering the crystal ball details, tennis ball details, and the super elastic ball details, and celebrate progress throughout the project. 

Keep the overwhelming feeling away by conquering the crystal ball details, tennis ball details, and the super elastic ball details, and celebrating progress throughout the project.

Ms. Laurie Ginn became a program attorney for the National Judicial College (NJC) in March, 2006. She concentrates on the judicial writing and judicial management courses, including Management Skills for Presiding Judges and Court Management for Judges and Court Administrators. She also edited the Second Edition of Logic and Legal Reasoning. Prior to accepting the position with The National Judicial College she was the legal case manager for the Public Utilities Commission in Carson City, Nevada. Ms. Ginn received her Bachelor’s degree at Oregon State University and her Juris Doctor at Willamette University College of Law. During law school she was a member of the Willamette University Public Interest Law Project. She is a member of the Nevada and California State Bars. She serves on the National Association of State Judicial Educators’ newsletter committee. 

Copyright 1999-2012, National Association of State Judicial Educators
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