Truth 46. Don't forget the screwdrivers

In making big decisions, don't forget to pay attention to the small details. In the Battle of Isandlwana (in what is currently South Africa) in January 1879, British troops were almost completely annihilated by Zulu warriors armed primarily with spears. The British had modern weapons and crates of ammo, but they had failed to bring enough screwdrivers. While they tried desperately to open the ammo boxes with stones and bayonets, the Zulus stormed their positions and defeated them.

While subsequent analysis of the battle raised other reasons that contributed to the failure, the point of the story is clear: Small details matter. All the best equipment and best training in the world—all the military strategy and decisions—were for naught because of the lack of a few screwdrivers to open the ammo boxes.

While a good strategy is essential, execution can make or break the strategy. At this point, you really do need to sweat the small stuff. A great battlefield plan depends on every unit showing up where it's supposed to be at the right time. A good business strategy depends on everyone recognizing and executing his responsibilities.

In executing business strategies, Larry Bossidy, former CEO of Honeywell International, Inc., and Ram Charan, world-renowned consultant and author, emphasize that success depends on the right behaviors, a culture that rewards execution, and a system for having the right people in the right jobs. Bossidy describes a generator developed by Honeywell that could have been a promising entry for supplying backup power for small businesses. The decision to produce this product was a good one. It was an attractive market. But the product was all wrong. It was too small for the target market and ran only on natural gas, while customers were looking for generators that could use both gas and oil. It was too late to fix the mistake, and Bossidy was forced to shut the business down. It was a great idea that failed in its execution.²⁸

We spend a lot of time getting the big picture for our decisions right. We agonize over strategic decisions, but it is the small operational and executional issues that can undermine the outcome of the best decisions. While planning for the big picture, don't forget the screwdrivers.