You've probably heard the old line about the devil being in the details.

Oft-quoted lines like this usually contain good advice or refer to near-universal experience. In this case, the usual advice is about when undertaking some endeavor, it's easy to overlook details that can trip you up. Staying on top of the details is the way to maintain control over a situation. To call upon a famous chain of events, "for the want of a nail…, the kingdom was lost." It definitely can pay to watch those details.

Another view of the devil's residence in the details could be about getting bogged down in them. Analysis paralysis and information overload is a common outcome of trying to stay on top of too many details. The problem is that when we try to focus on everything, we really can't focus on anything.

So we run into the devil whether we ignore the details or pay attention to them. An interesting image of being "on the horns of a dilemma" comes to mind, doesn't it?

Well, there's another line that you might be familiar with, from a Paul Simon song (You Can Call Me Al) that talks about seeing "angels in the architecture." If we're up against the devil, who would be better to recruit for help than angels?

To do that, keep an eye on the architecture; on what Deming refers to as the structure of the system and the dynamics of its processes. What you are really trying to do is related to the big picture.

The potential for stumbles and struggles is in the details, but knowing which detail is really critical requires an understanding of what's important for the larger effort. The easiest way of staying on top of the system, and of putting details into perspective, is to make sure that they support the ability of your system's "weakest link" -- its constraint -- to do what it needs to do. Whether we're talking about the critical path of a project or the bottleneck of an operation, it's the details related to those key leverage points that will keep you out of the devil's clutches.

Think about it . . .

©2002, Frank Patrick

This is one of a series of columns on improvement, TOC, constraint management, change management, systems thinking, uncommon sense, and whatever else comes into my mind. Suggestions for topics are welcome. - FP, 908-874-8664 or via the contact page of this site.

If you are interested in using these 1/2-page columns for your APICS, ASQ, PMI, or IIE newsletter, let me know through the same channels, and I'll send you the more easily usable MS Word versions.

-- Frank Patrick

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