How Important Are The Details?

One of the MOST important things I learned from Robert Kiyosaki while working for him for most this decade was the idea of starting from the biggest possible perspective, then working your way down.

Let me explain.

Most people, when acting on an opportunity or facing a challenge, start with the smallest details. When reviewing a real estate deal they get right into the details – expenses, tenants, air conditioning, parking, utilities, debt, financing, fees, maintenance, etc, etc, etc. When thinking about starting a business things like location, employees, rent, costs, financing, partners, traffic, marketing, expenses always come up first.

What Robert taught me is that if you start from the highest or widest possible perspective FIRST, then you are able to direct the business or investment and determine the future of the environment BEFORE worrying about all the details.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Details are extremely important. It is imperative that you get into the details at some point. However, if something at a much higher level will affect your investment or business (or anything else in your life) with little or no chance of you avoiding it, then the details can be moot.

For instance, if you are looking to purchase a four-plex at the corner of Butler and 4th Street, but you are so into the details that you don’t understand that business is actually moving OUT of that part of town, then you may be missing a HUGE piece of your investment puzzle.

Or, you are looking to invest in real estate in Florida, but don’t realize that due to the need to extract more domestic oil from the ground, that Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska are much better long-term investment locations, you could be missing out.

R. Buckminster Fuller said “I always start with the Universe.” Meaning, when he looked at an opportunity, problem or challenge, he started with the BIGGEST possible picture, then worked his way down.

Now, again, the details ARE extremely important. How important?

Take this story from Time.com about how mega-retailer Ikea changed the font they use for their company name and logo. Yes, you heard me right… the font.

The Font War: Ikea Fans Fume Over Switch To Verdana

The home furnishing giant changed the font of the huge yellow “IKEA” sign they slap to the sides of their over sized, blue buildings around the world from Futura to Verdana.

That has to be the epitome of the attention to detail. The font used in the store’s lettering. However, it caused a huge backlash from their most rabid customers.

How important are the details?

Now, back to my point about starting with the biggest possible picture, Ikea says the reason they made the shift is because Verdana is more adaptable to multiple languages in multiple countries. It is also more web-friendly. Talk about starting with the big picture. Eventually, they will completely do away with the printed catalog and go entirely to the web, just like everything else. That is forward thinking.

Here is the lesson, start big, THEN work your way down. The details are extremely important, but not at the expense of the bigger picture.