Why some details, no matter how small, are critical to get right.
Original email from Dec 11, 2024
I remember this one time when I was helping my dad at his hardware store
A customer approached the counter slowly, hunched over and frowning.
"Hi! How can I help you today? 😄" - I asked with the usual I'm-working-in-retail smile
"Hey... umm... I'm looking for the correct version of these things for my TV..."
He opened his hand and showed me these:
"My friend told me these were the wrong ones to put on the wall for the support"
My dad came over, took one look, and asked...
"Did your TV fall off the wall and break?"
The man just nodded.
Oof
The thing is, this sort of thing happens all the time. And it sucks when it did.
Like, imagine you save for a few months to buy yourself a brand-spankin'-new 52'' smart TV (alongside the support to place it on the wall).
You're excited.
The smart TV comes with a few of those plastic wall plugs and some screws. Sweet, you don't need to go to a hardware store you think to yourself. You grab a drill, make holes in the wall, place in them the plugs (which fasten the screws safely to the wall), and you put up the support. Half an hour later, you have the TV on the wall.
You're proud of yourself.
A week later, while watching a show with your family – BLAM!! The TV, support and all, falls face down onto the ground.
What happened?
The wall plugs that came with the TV weren't suitable for the wall you owned
I'm unsure of other countries, but in Argentina, there are two main types of walls people have in their homes. You either have a house with solid walls or one with hollow walls. Depending on the type of wall you have, you have to place the correct type of plug (or risk screws flinging off the walls).
Yes, I know. It's stupid, it's dumb, and it's an incredibly small detail to pay attention to. If one doesn't know about it, how could they see it coming? And that's just the thing.
Some details, no matter how small, are critical to get right.
This is usually the case whenever we're dealing with software development. It could be an important necessity the client needs (but never mentioned). It could be a strange but valuable edge case you now need to consider. Maybe a crucial legal requirement was discovered that prevents the feature from going to production before other changes are made.
(That last one happened to us not too long ago 😅)
Whatever it is, details are everywhere and the skill to uncover them is an invaluable one.
Take care of them.