Get the Small Stuff Right

October 1, 2021

Last week, my beloved Tennessee Volunteers played the University of Florida in The Swamp. After a tightly contested first quarter, and a Florida 3 and out early in the second, the Gators’ punt team took the field with just over 13:00 to play in the first half. As the Vols sent their return team onto the field, and a delay of game penalty was being marked off against Florida, confusion seemed to set in on the Vols sideline. The camera isolated on Vols number 1, Velus Jones, Jr., tentatively jogging off the field, just prior to the snap. Then, incredulously, Florida punted to an entirely empty Tennessee backfield. A 58-yard kick rolled unceremoniously to a dead stop, surrounded by a horde of Gators, with not a Vol in sight. Adding insult to injury, the color commentator noted that not only had Tennessee failed to mount a return, they’d fielded only 9 players – 2 short of the number allowed.

See, Tennessee has two number 1s – Velus Jones, Jr. and Trevon Flowers. Somehow both had run onto the field prior to the return. While it is standard operating procedure for teams to pass out the same number to more than one player, it’s against the rules for two players with the same number to occupy the playing field at the same time. Apparently, Velus’ coach and Trevon’s coach had discovered the mistake at roughly the same time, and both called their players off the field, leaving only 9 to play the down.?Watch it here.

While it’s funny in a ha ha sort of way, it’s symptomatic of a team that’s been rebuilding since it fired Phil Fulmer in 2008. But “rebuilding” is just a euphemism for failing to do the thousands of little things that are required to achieve even one big thing. See, when you repeatedly fail to get the little things right, you never get the big things done.

And that’s the point for the week.

Big things are, in reality, just successions of many smaller things. Winners, in sport, in business, and in all other facets of life know this. It’s why they are fanatical about small things. These are people you will find stooping to pick up trash in their parking lots, people who make sure the back of their buildings look as good as the front, people who take the time to speak to those they pass as they walk about, and people who count the number of players on the field while paying attention to the numbers on their backs. They do these things because they know that people follow the example of their leaders. When they show care and concern for the little things, those who follow them are more likely to as well.

These people also know that accomplishing the extraordinary requires extraordinary trust. They likewise know that trust is never gained all at once but progressively, over time, one small act after another, creating the consistency, predictability and transparency that are required for trust to take hold.

With trust, and the love that follows it, human teams can accomplish almost anything. They do so because once trust is established, people will do almost anything to keep it. They will ensure that every little thing is attended to because the thought of disappointing those who trust them is among the worst things they can imagine.

Like most else in life, getting the small stuff right is a choice. Those who choose correctly win. Those who don’t suffer loss after loss, like watching punted balls slowly roll to a stop inside their own ten-yard line.

So, choose to get the small stuff right.

And win.

To pre-order Phillip Kane's new book, please click HERE.