Watching the Little Things

Tom Peters once observed that if airline passengers put down their tray tables and see coffee stains, they wonder about the condition of the plane’s engines.

The little things can send signals that may or may not be accurate, but if a little thing is negative, the signal will be likewise.

I mention this because recently part of my time has been devoted to reviewing workshop materials. One poorly worded case example or (God forbid!) misspelling and the wrong signal may be sent.

Some items I've noticed in the media over just the past few days:

• A news reporter mispronouncing the name of a city.
• A quote attributed to the wrong person.
• Overstatements. (I know, that was an easy one.)
• A generalization stated as fact.
• Misspelled captions on television newscasts.

We all make mistakes - I caught a glitch on the blog this afternoon - and most of our blunders are probably quickly forgiven.

But how many are the equivalent of the coffee stains on the tray table?