Small Things Are Really Big Things

Decades ago, Walt Disney was developing an experimental, audio-animatronic Tiki Bird for his newest attraction...the Enchanted Tiki Room. As he met with his developers, he watched the birds blink, move and sing. He was excited, but there was one thing he felt was missing. The Tiki Birds weren't programmed to look like they were breathing when they weren't talking or singing. His team had a good answer: The circuits, valves and pumps made it difficult to add an element that hardly anyone would notice. If the bird was breathing, and 99% of the audience would likely never notice, would it make a difference? One of the Imagineers said to Walt, "People are not going to get this. This is too much perfection." Walt listened to the team and then shared a lesson that is one of the secrets of The Walt Disney Company's success.

"People can feel perfection." Quality is the imperceptible things that guests might not even know they see. But "devotion to detail lets guests know that they're worth the effort."

Going the extra mile to make sure the birds looked like they were breathing may seem like a small thing. But it is really a big thing.

Excellence is the whisper that comes from the small things done well.

Let me ask you a question. Do you pay attention to the little details in your ministry? Do you seek to do the "small" things well?