Attention to detail makes the difference Published July 18, 2007 By Chief Master Sgt. Frank Murphy 60th Operations Group commander TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Have you ever noticed a sharp Airman? Have you thought about why they look sharp and what makes them different than the average Airman? Is it because they have a different uniform supplier or more time in the day to prepare? Or is it they simply pay more attention to detail? Charles Swindoll, author and educator, has a great quote I'd like to share: "The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail." The sharp Airman I'm referring to has figured out the meaning of the quote and, more importantly, applied its principle. This Airman pays attention to detail and consequently has an outstanding appearance, above his or her peers, despite receiving the same training and uniforms. Attention to detail makes the difference. I challenge everyone to apply the principle of detail attention to their daily routines. Some examples where we could benefit as Team Travis are easy to define. If attention to detail was applied to uniform wear, the violations would fade away. Performance reports written with that focus wouldn't need to be sent back and forth through various levels of supervision; the first draft would be all that is needed. Our documents would contain no misspellings or grammatical errors. Base housing wouldn't need to be inspected since everyone would maintain their homes with an eye towards those levels of detail required to have a great looking house or dorm room. At this point you may think I'm living in a utopian world and want to argue why we can never achieve those particular goals. But let me relate a few goals that are easily achievable with only a few more people paying more attention to detail. When we go to our workplace in the mornings do we walk by the piece of trash or do we pick it up? Better yet, do we look at the general appearance of our workspace with an eye towards cleanliness and efficiency? If we acted on this idea it would eliminate the inevitable cleaning party prior to every distinguished visitor's visit. Don't you ever wonder why we don't keep it that clean for ourselves the rest of time? I do. It's the small changes made that will improve our workspaces and incrementally make it better. When we write a performance report or award package, do we check for the latest guidance or just worry about getting it in on time? Sometimes we forget the goal is to have a quality report completed, and not just have the initial report dropped off on time. We'd be better off as an organization making sure it's right the first time, and avoiding the time of editing and moving the folder between offices. Our commanders spend a lot of time working on these items; it's everyone's responsibility to give them the best product possible the first time. The final and most important way I feel we can make Travis better is to provide constructive feedback. If you see a sharp Airman, compliment them. If you see an Airman that needs feedback give it to them constructively, along with some suggestions on how to improve what is lacking. To paraphrase Mr. Swindoll; together we can be great by paying more attention to detail.