For Want of a Nail - Anonymous

This anonymous poem is well over a 1000 years old, but it is just as true then as it is now. As the saying goes… “The Devil is in the Details” and if we do not take care of the details, they will come back to haunt us again and again. Here’s the poem.

For Want of a Nail,

The Shoe was lost.

For want of the Shoe,

The Horse was lost.

For want of the Horse,

The Knight was lost.

For want of the Knight,

The Battle was lost.

And for the want of that one Battle,

The entire War was lost!
Just one small mistake can cost us a small, medium or very large customer, especially if we repeat it. And that converts to lost income in two ways (the money it took to get the customer and the sales income we lose). Zero mistakes may be virtually impossible but it is not a bad idea to shoot for zero mistakes for one day, two days, a week and maybe even a month. Remember, would you fly with an airline that boasts a 99% take off and landing record without loss of life? You get the picture.