Why the details are important
I search for inspiration in all areas of life, and politics is no exception. Regardless of your political leaning, Barack Obama's Democratic nomination clinch is an historic event, particularly since he went against the political juggernaut Hillary Clinton.
What's inspiring to me and that I think we can take away from the nomination battle is not that he won, but how he won. As the Washington Post points out, Obama's strategy was focused on winning delegates, not states, and his campaign was meticulously well organized from the top down. Clinton was simply out-managed, out-organized, and out-campaigned.
The key lesson from his strategy is simple: nail the details. Barack Obama won the nomination because he nailed the details. His strategy focused on the lowest common denominator of the point system: the delegates. His organization focused on the lowest common denominator of an election: the individual. And when it came to the candidate himself, he was so disciplined that he maintained a consistent message for 17 months.
I recently discussed how success is directly related to one's ability to "nail the details". The sports teams who are disciplined enough to focus on and execute every moment of the game are the teams that win championships. Obama won the nomination because his campaign was disciplined enough to focus on the smallest details for 17 months.
In software, we can be successful in building quality products our customers love if we are disciplined enough to nail the details of design, usability, and quality. Doing so doesn’t require lots of process or management, but rather it means our mindset is to focus on creating value for the customer and ensuring that value is provided throughout the product’s development. Some like to call it “polish”, but it’s really about ensuring every detail has been addressed.
This is why creating products customers love is so difficult. This is why doing anything successful is so difficult. But you don’t have to tell Barack Obama that. His ability to nail the details earned him a place in history.
Filed under: Current Affairs, Development, Software
