Little Things Matter

The little things matter. Because little things become big things.

Often, what separates one person or team from winning or losing is their obsession with details most people consider small.

Take John Wooden, the most successful coach in the history of college basketball. Every year, he would spend time teaching his players how to put on their socks and shoes properly. He once said:

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“The first thing I would show players on our initial day of training would be how to take a little extra time putting on their shoes and socks properly.

I showed my players how I wanted them to do it. Hold up the sock, work it around the little toe area and the heel area so that there are no wrinkles. Smooth it out. Then hold the sock up while you put the shoe on. The shoe must spread apart, not just be pulled on by the top laces. You tighten it snugly at each eyelet. Then you tie it. Then you double-tie it so it won’t come undone. Because I don’t want shoes coming untied during practice or games.

He continued, that’s the little detail coaches must take advantage of, because it’s the little details that make big things come about.”

Shoes may be more advanced today than they were in Wooden’s era, but the principle still stands: how you do anything is how you do everything.

Wooden was not really teaching socks and shoes. He was teaching habits and standards. He was teaching that the smallest disciplines, repeated daily, create separation over time.

What surprises me is how often people drift from that standard. Corners get cut. Bars get lowered. Mediocrity becomes acceptable.

Recently, my 5th-grade girls’ basketball team lost a playoff game by one point. One possession, one decision, one small detail. The margin was tiny, but it mattered. Most likely, it was a small decision from their coach (yours truly), but the principle remains the same.

If small things can swing the outcome for 11-year-olds, imagine what they do over the course of your career, your leadership, your relationships, and your life.

Little things matter.

The question is, what small detail are you overlooking right now that, if you built better habits around, has a chance to change everything?

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How you do anything is how you do everything.