Here’s to unsung heroes! (ok, very unsung…)
They might seem like a pain in the butt — those people on your team that are always insisting on doing things *by the book*.
They don’t seem to cave to peer pressure. They don’t cut corners. They insist on doing things the right way, no matter what the social cost.
Even though these people — I call them sticklers — don’t usually get a lot of appreciation for well, being sticklers, they play a vital role in your organization.
The truth is, and I am not exaggerating, they keep disaster from happening.
Sticklers keep things happening exactly according to standard.
Without them, the gap between ‘the right way’ and the actual way that things get done tends to get wider and wider.
Once you have a culture of deviation from standard big things and little things start to go wrong — anything from a small waste of time and money to a major disaster.
So try to appreciate your company’s sticklers! And listen to them. A culture of following the standards will pay dividends in the near and short term.