Details Schmetails.

"God is in the details", yes God, so let's get the facts right once and for all. The quote we use in all variants has generally been attributed to German born architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and even his obituary in the New York Times attributed the quote to him. The problem, a lot of people thought details were painful so a quick switch to the Devil made for a better excuse when missing the finer points or the little things not noticed on first go around. Interestingly, German pop musician Blixa Bargeld has been attributed with the Devil quote and I quickly ask, what is it about those Germans and details?

Guess you don't come up with the engineering marvels we drive around in, along with the Siemens', Bosch', BASFs, insurance companies like Alliance and banks that dominate Europe without having an eye for detail. In 2004, Germany was the market leader in twenty-one out of thirty-one branches of the entire world’s engineering industry! At the time it represented a quarter of the entire world market.

So here I am, German born and did that gene skip past me on its way to Gustav now designing the latest Porsche? I sometimes find myself at odds with colleagues and friends over details I think are not relevant or worse, insignificant. Yet thankfully I'm not alone and there seems to be a reasonable spread of details people surrounded by ideas people, or as the details people call them, no hopers. For me it's more about what could be, what might happen if, how do we change that and who can help make a difference. Some would no doubt suggest that to make a difference, do the little bits all the time but then, when would the big stuff get done?

This is no doubt the situation many people find themselves in, as they figure out how best to use their skills effectively within the constraints of whatever employment landscape they work in. The trick is to find that path you are comfortable to walk, that satisfies the work requirements but still gives you freedom to create, think and make a difference.

I'm in awe of engineers and developers I come across, who work in a world of dots and numbers encached in lines of script that eventually turn into a technology innovation. I couldn't do without my accountant, timetables keeping me on time, people behind the scenes making our daily lives better and I certainly couldn't get by without my travel agent who takes my dreams of a holiday and turns it into reality making sure all the details are correct and that nothing goes wrong on those precious weeks of escape.

So in the end, this is an ode to everyone doing the little things that count more than you think. The little things, that if they break down cause more concern than the big ideas that come and go. The little things really do count and they should be recognised. Maybe I do have some of that German DNA after all?