The Art of Leadership

Chapter 10. The Blue Tape List

We remodeled the downstairs of the house several years ago. Two rooms had walls moved to make way for additional rooms. This was deep construction. Months of noise, plastic tarps, dust, and decisions.

When they start applying the drywall, it starts to look like your house again, and you begin to hope for dustless silence. Drywall is when you start wondering, “Are they going to fix that?” You spot defects. Partly completed work. Small dents. Dings. As you begin to finish, you can see everything that is not quite right.

When we brought these concerns to our general contractor, he whipped out a roll of blue painter’s tape and gave us the following instructions:

1. You are going to see everything that is wrong with our work from now until we’re done. That’s fine.

2. When you see something that needs attention, mark it with this blue tape.

3. We will fix everything that has the blue tape.

Everything Is Broken

Our ability to see imperfections after significant context switches is impressive. A new home or remodel, a new car, a new job. When the context around you changes massively, your brain moves to high alert. Everything is different. Pay close attention. Something important is up.

Why? I used to think this hyperawareness was a reaction to significant expenditures; it was there to make sure I was getting my money’s worth, or perhaps it was an unrealistic desire to keep what is new in perfect condition. That makes sense for big-ticket items, but why ...