Details and Impressions

Sometimes I forget just how important details can be when making an impression on someone.  One detail that nearly everyone in the business school knows about me at this point is that I have a selection of floral lapel pins in different colors.  Maybe not everyone could say offhandedly that “Kevin has 10 different colors” but just about everyone knows I wear them.  The pins and the colors are part of my identity.

So, when a colleague from the Office of Development and Alumni relations brought me a new pin to ask me to wear it for several weeks leading up to an event, it was no big deal to me to agree to wear it.  What was interesting was one detail forgotten and one detail noticed.

The pin said, Beet Week.  The detail I had forgotten was “what on earth is Beet Week?”  I was quickly reminded that it is a week being planned by our alumni relations team to emphasize the idea of philanthropy for our students who are graduating and will soon be alumni.  The reference to the root vegetable is because of a story related to the donor who gave the money to start the business school at Johns Hopkins (https://youtu.be/v_qiAR1Fz3w). 

The detail that I noticed was that the colors on the pin.  THe background of the pin was blue and the word week was in orange (blue and orange together are the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School colors) but the word beet was in white.  White is not a color I immediately think of when I think of beets.  I think of the red/purple of beets on a salad or pickled beets (sometimes along with pickled eggs).  I asked my colleague, “This word beet must be white to make us think of sugar beets?”  (See the story above.)  She was surprised but pleased that I had noticed that detail, and she commented that I was the only one who had noticed. 

I’ve known this colleague long enough and well enough that I didn’t necessarily need to worry about another positive impression. However, the two minute exchange was a great reminder of how much people appreciate details that are meaningful to them being noticed.  That appreciation can yield a stronger bond, more trust, and better collaboration.  That makes recognizing and pointing out details well worth the effort.