A Closer Look at

Attention
to Detail
Beyond communications, interpersonal, and leadership skills, there’s
another ‘non-technical skill’ fundamental to success in IT.

By James J. Cappel, Victor R. Prybutok, and Benny Varghese

“It drives me crazy when other
people don’t pay attention to the
details. The details are what count
when an IT software project is
delivered.”
—Team leader at a large IT
consulting firm
“After seeing this survey, attention
to detail will now become part of my
vocabulary. Too often it is assumed
or ignored.”
—Data warehousing professional at a
Fortune 500 company
In his first summer as Dallas Cowboys’ head football
coach, Bill Parcells told a player who made a mistake
during training camp, “You’ve got to think! You’ve got to
do the little things right!” About his newly hired coach,
the team owner, Jerry Jones, said, “I had no idea I was
hiring someone so intimately involved in every single
thing” [3]. Parcells’s approach, which can be described as
paying attention to detail (ATD), was successful in turning
around the team’s poor performance and taking it to the
Super Bowl. ATD is a formula for success, but it has been
given little formal recognition within IT.

COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM July 2005/Vol. 48, No. 7 87

 Table 1 shows the results of ABI/ Wilson Previous studies of IT job
INFORM Business
keyword searches on two leading Abstracts
skills considered numerous tech-
online business databases in late Management 268 86 nical and nontechnical skills
2003. These results were Marketing 145 38 using surveys of employers, fac-
obtained from compound Sales 158 38 ulty, and others [2, 4, 6, 8, 10,
searches combining “attention to Engineering 47 4 11] or, alternatively, via content
detail” and the names of various Customer Service 58 5
analyses of IT job ads [5, 9]. In
Accounting 17 5
business-related disciplines. They Information Technology 7 2
contrast, this study looks at
also illustrate that ATD rarely Information Systems 15 4 employers’ perceptions of a single
surfaces in IT or IS articles. job skill: attention to detail.
Table 1. Number
ATD can be defined as “cover- of ATD-related Given the paucity of literature about ATD in the IT
ing all aspects with painstaking sources in online field and its potential importance, this study consid-
accuracy” [7]. ATD has qualities business Cappel table ers
databases. 1 (7/05)
various issues, including:
of both completeness and correct-
ness and involves noticing the “little things.” Previous • What employers think about ATD;
studies of IT-related job skills differentiate between • ATD’s perceived importance;
technical skills (competencies associated with tech- • How ATD is assessed and used in IT manage-
nologies) and nontechnical skills (other skills or abili- ment; and
ties needed for the IT profession, also known as “soft • Whether putting greater focus on ATD produces
skills”). While ATD is a nontechnical skill that is any benefits for IT management.
intuitively important for IT work, its frequency of
occurrence in IT job advertisements is low compared A Web-based survey was emailed to 340 IT profes-
to other soft skills. For example, our recent review of sionals. Slightly more than 100 were members of the
the employment Web site www.brassring.com found Society of Information Management (SIM) Detroit
that ATD appeared in only chapter, and the remainder
3% of IT job ads, compared to Job title Systems analyst/programmer
Project leader
33 %
28 %
were from a large IT consulting
52% for written communica- CIO, VP, or Director of IS 19 % firm in Michigan. A total of 95
IS manager 14 %
tions skills, 48% for oral com- Other 6% responses were received, for a
munications skills, 30% for Years of professional Less than 3 1% response rate of 28%. Table 2
leadership, and 28% for inter- work experience 3–7 22 % shows the demographic profile
8–12 15 %
personal skills. 13–18 23 % of the respondents. Our analy-
19–24 19 %
Prior research suggests that 25 or more 19 % sis of the survey results reported
this lack of presence does not Industry Computer/computer services 54 %
here showed no significant
mean that ATD is unimpor- Manufacturing 22 % differences as a function
Financial services/insurance 4%
tant to IT work. IT profes- Transportation 4% of respondents’ demographic
Chemical, oil, and gas 3%
sionals rated ATD among the Education 3% characteristics. Follow-up inter-
Government 2%
Utilities 1%
most important nontechnical views were conducted with IT
skills for entry-level IT Consumer products/services 1 % professionals from eight organi-
Other 5%
employees, with an average zations to obtain additional
rating of 4.3 on a scale with 5 Company size
(annual revenue)
Less than $100 million
$100–499 million
52 %
17 % information.
$500–999 million 5%
$1–3.9 billion 12 %
as the highest [2]. In addition,
employers perceived a wider $4–9.9 billion 2% SURVEY RESULTS
$10 billion or more 12 %
gap between expected and Meaning of ATD. It is impor-
Company size (no. of Less than 5 1%
actual performance for ATD information systems 5–14 7% tant to clarify how IT profes-
than for any of the other 37 employees) 15–49
50–99
7%
11 %
sionals think about ATD. A
technical and nontechnical 100–149 9% survey question asked respon-
150 or more 65 %
skills investigated [2]. These Responses are rounded to the nearest percentage.
dents which of two statements
findings suggest that ATD is they agreed with most: “ATD is
Table 2. Participant
not getting appropriate recog- characteristics. a skill that can be significantly improved over time;”
nition in the IT field. If a Cappel table 2 or(7/05)
“ATD is a personal quality that a person tends to
greater focus were put on ATD in IT education, IT either have or not have.” There was no consensus
selection practices, and the literature, would those about this issue; 62% of participants viewed ATD as
entering the IT field be more sensitized to its impor- a skill, while 38% perceived it as a personal quality.
tance in performing their jobs? While this survey question “forced” participants to

88 July 2005/Vol. 48, No. 7 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM

select only one of these two responses, follow-up ciated ATD with behaviors, skills, or work outcomes. To
interviews suggest that many IT professionals think some respondents, ATD was a general attitude or orien-
ATD is both a skill and a personal quality; seven of tation toward work, while others construed its meaning
eight interviewees expressed this view. According to rather narrowly, such as having organizational skills or
one participant, “Some follow-through. The com-
people are naturals with mon denominator to all
respect to attention to What is your view of ATD? Percent
comments was that ATD is
detail. But I also think - ATD is a skill that can be significantly improved over time 62 %
associated in one way or
ATD can be learned over - have ATD is a personal quality that a person tends to either
or not have
38 % another with excellence or
time by people who What other words or phrases mean practically No. of Times
ways of achieving excel-
really work at it.” the same thing as ATD? Mentioned * lence.
Another respondent Completeness, thoroughness, comprehensive, meticulous, 37 Importance of ATD.
said, “I think some peo- perfectionist, covering all bases, not overlooking anything Respondents rated the
ple naturally set their Correctness, accuracy, exactness, precision, getting things right 16
importance of ATD on a
quality bar higher and Quality, flawless execution, adhering to specifications 10 five-point scale, from 5 for
their work products Focused, perceptive, observant, concentrated, acutely aware 8 “very important” to 1 for
reflect that commit- Conscientiousness, careful, care, interested, pride 6 “very unimportant.” Fig-
ment. These people are Professional, competent, efficient and effective, reliable, 5
ure 1 shows that most par-
more analytical and having a firm grasp on what’s going on ticipants (88%) rated
more focused on ATD. Organized, organization 5 ATD as very important for
However, I also believe Follow through, follow-up 3 IT jobs, 12% said it was
that people who lack Analytical 2
somewhat important,
ATD can be taught tech- * This indicates the number of participants who provided one or more of the responses in each and no participants pro-
niques to improve in this respective category. Some participant’s responses fit more than one category. vided responses of “some-
area.” what unimportant,” “very
Respondents’ per- Table 3. Meaning unimportant,” or “don’t know/no opinion.” The
ceptions of ATD. An Cappeloftable ATD. 3 (7/05)
mean response on the five-point scale was 4.88.
open-ended question One participant said, “I think ATD is an inherent
asked participants to contribute other words they quality that any IT professional cannot survive with-
thought were the same as ATD. Consistent with the out. There is no question that staff who lack ATD are
definition of ATD presented here, participants fre- more difficult to manage, and their work needs closer
quently viewed ATD as involving completeness and scrutiny.” Another respondent said, “If IT profession-
correctness. Table 3 provides support for these terms als don’t pay attention to detail, requirements, design
because it shows similar expressions. Regarding com- attributes, and other critical development compo-
pleteness, respondents commented that ATD is nents can be overlooked, imposing significant risk,
“thinking creatively to ensure all possible angles have time, and added money to IT work.” One participant
been addressed” and “knowing dependencies, and said, “ATD is most important in the analyst role
seeing potential future issues.” A number of other where ‘the details’ are analyzed and evaluated. The
perspectives were also offered: 10 respondents said challenge is frequently putting details in context and
ATD is closely associated with quality; eight per- knowing what needs to be analyzed and when enough
ceived ATD as being “focused” or “perceptive”; six analysis has been completed.”
thought ATD is an attitude of being “conscientious”; In interviews, participants were asked about the
and five viewed ATD as associated with “competence” importance of ATD today compared to three to five
or “professionalism.” years ago. Five of eight interviewees said ATD is more
Our findings show numerous interpretations of important today, while the remainder said it is equally
ATD. While ATD was commonly viewed in terms of important. The most commonly cited reason among
completeness, correctness, or both, other responses asso- respondents who said ATD is more important was

“There is no question that staff who lack ATD

are more difficult to manage, and their work needs
closer scrutiny.”
COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM July 2005/Vol. 48, No. 7 89
 Figure 1. Importance of ATD. Figure 2. Importance of ATD Moving Up
the IT Chain of Command.

Somewhat important
More important

12%
13%

48% Of equal
39% importance
88%

Very Important
Less important

Figure 1. Importance pressure on the IT function “making sure action Figure 2. Importance of
of ATD. ATD moving up the IT chain
to produce more and better items are well tracked,
Cappel fig 1. (7/05)
work with fewer resources. system-level require- Cappel fig 2. (7/05) of command.
As one participant said, “With a reduced systems life ments are coordinated with business plans, etc.,” while
cycle, there is less time to interact and more pressure another said it is about “securing entrusted advisers
to get it right the first time. ATD becomes more who can keep you informed about the details.”
important.” Participants also Figure
commented 3. Impacts that they Observed Negative
Whereimpacts
ATD of a lack of ATD. As another
Was Missing in an IT Project.
think ATD is underestimated in the IT field. One way to assess the importance of ATD, respondents
respondent said, “I cannot recall a single training pro- were asked about their experience when ATD was
gram that taught ATD, lacking in an IT project or
and yet I think it is one activity. Figure 3 indicates
Systems requirements were gathered
of the most important incompletely or inaccurately 83% over two-thirds of the par-
aspects of interface A project was delivered late or ticipants reported negative
over budget 72%
design and system impacts. For example, sys-
A system was designed or developed
development. Although that did not meet users’ needs 68% tems requirements were
ATD can be learned Important elements were not gathered incompletely or
included in a system 66%
through experience and IT standards of the company
inaccurately, a project was
mentoring, all new pro- were not followed 55% delivered late or over bud-
grammers, and some A resulting system lacked ease get, a system was designed
of use 49%
more experienced ones, A system was developed that could or developed that did not
have resulted in financial losses or 30%
could benefit from harm to the company meet user needs, and
some formal introduc- Other 9% important elements were
tion to the concepts of 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
not included in a system.
ATD.” Other commonly reported
Importance of ATD effects included that the IT
within different levels Figure 3. Impacts observed standards of the company were not followed (55%), a
where ATD was missing in
of the IT hierarchy. an IT project. resulting system lacked ease of use (49%), and a sys-
The survey queried Cappel figtem 3. (7/05)
was developed that could have resulted in finan- Cappel fig 3.
respondents about whether they think ATD is more cial losses or harm to the company (30%). Other
important, less important, or equally important the responses contributed by respondents included that
higher one goes up the IT chain of command. Partic- the resulting system contained bugs and required “an
ipants were divided on this issue. Figure 2 shows that extended stabilization period before it could go live to
48% find ATD is equally important for higher-level normal/standard support requirements.”
IT positions, 39% less important, and 13% more Satisfaction with employees’ ATD. The survey
important. queried respondents about their degree of satisfaction
While most participants viewed ATD as equally with the amount of ATD that most new IT employ-
important at all IT levels, several respondents said ees bring to the job. Consistent with the findings of a
that they think the meaning of ATD varies with job previous study [2], the results suggest that there is a
level. One participant said that for CIOs, ATD means substantial room for improvement. On a five-point

90 July 2005/Vol. 48, No. 7 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM

scale, ranging from 5 for “very satisfied” to 1 for “very
dissatisfied,” a mean rating of 3.01 was obtained.
Specifically, 45% of the respondents were somewhat
satisfied, 33% somewhat dissatisfied, 14% don’t
know/no opinion, 7% very dissatisfied, and only 1%
very satisfied.
Ways to improve ATD. Given these results, it is
useful to explore what actions companies take to
improve their employees’ ATD. Many respondents
reported using multiple methods to improve ATD:
63% used feedback from managers or project leaders,
55% used performance review sessions, 50% used
feedback from customers or clients, 46% used men-
toring, 46% used feedback from peers, and 12% used
other methods. Other methods respondents men-
tioned were quality or six sigma training; the use of
checklists, schedules, methodology, documentation,
and audits; user presentations; and managers clearly
communicating the level of detail expected in work
assignments.
Some respondents emphasized the role of job expe-
rience in improving ATD, saying, “Knowing what to
look for, what needs to be addressed in a given situa-
tion is a learned experience for most folks. So, new
hires are less likely to be proficient, as their experi-
ences to date are limited in scope and complexity.
ATD increases as experience is gained.” Another IT
professional recognized the significance of job experi-
ence to ATD but said training can play an important
role, stating: “... The key would be to train employees
through a series of very different situational analyses
... before practicing in the real world.”
ATD in IT hiring decisions. This survey assessed
the extent to which ATD is considered in making
employment decisions. The results showed variation.
Only 9% of participants reported that ATD is one cri-
terion used by their companies in making IT hiring
decisions. The most common response (received from
40% of respondents) was that ATD is not an explicit
selection criterion, but it is implied in other selection
criteria used. An additional 19% reported that ATD is
not considered in selection decisions, while 34% gave a
“don’t know/no opinion” response.
To assess ATD in prospective employees, partici-
pants reported that they most commonly use work
One irony is that while there is almost unanimous
agreement about the importance of ATD to IT work,
there is no consensus about what ATD means.
samples (60%), references (60%), and previous work
experience or internships (56%). Less frequently used
methods include academic performance (24%), per-
sonality tests (24%), and assessment center exercises
(22%). Among companies using personality or
employment tests, few respondents claim to use the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test, or quantita-
tive, reading comprehension, and technical exercises.
Five respondents also viewed face-to-face personal
and/or technical interviews as a way to assess ATD.
One participant said, “I ask them to explain a specific
process and see how detailed their response is.”
ATD and IT job advertisements. The survey asked
respondents why they thought ATD is not more fre-
quently mentioned in IT position advertisements. The
most common response (34%) was that ATD is
assumed or implicit in IT work, so there is no need to
mention it. In addition, 29% thought that ATD was
too difficult to measure and 20% that ATD is too dif-
ficult to define. Another 11% said that ATD is already
covered by other job selection factors, and 6% pro-
vided an “other” response. One respondent said,
“Everyone will say they have ATD whether they do or
not. It is better to look for it but not tell them.”
In contrast, many respondents saw advantages in
making ATD more explicit. A survey question asked
whether mentioning ATD explicitly in IT employ-
ment ads would produce any potential benefits. In
their responses, where participants could agree with
one or more statements: 57% agreed it would better
communicate company work expectations; 38% it
would draw more attention to relevant job require-
ments; 27% it would lead to better selection deci-
sions; and 26% no benefit. Among those favoring
giving ATD more emphasis in selection practices, one
participant said, “Too many people who get through
the interview process end up not having good ATD.
So, if ATD was more of a focus during the interview
process but didn’t necessarily take away from the other
interview topics, we would be able to get more qual-
ity employees.”
CONCLUSION
The results of this study raise important ironies and
implications for action. One irony is that while there
COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM July 2005/Vol. 48, No. 7 91
is almost unanimous agreement about the impor-
tance of ATD to IT work, there is no consensus
about what ATD means. Many IT professionals
view ATD as a personal quality and a “trainable
skill” at which individuals can improve over time.
The meaning of ATD also appears to vary somewhat
by IT job level.
A second irony is that while evidence suggests
ATD is important and IT professionals could per-
form significantly better in terms of it, ATD is
ignored by the IT community. Typically, when a
problem is faced in a discipline, practitioners and/or
academics focus effort to solve it. This has not hap-
pened with ATD in the IT field. This raises the ques-
tion: Would giving ATD more emphasis in IT
selection, training, and development improve IT
practices? This is an important question for IT man-
agement to consider.
A third irony is that the importance of ATD to IT
work is growing at the same time that organizational
forces are working to raise or meet competing objec-
tives. Today, IT functions are under intense efficiency
pressures. Some participants stated that IT shops fol-
low an “80-20 rule” that emphasizes getting 80% of
what users want in a system “out the door” quickly,
returning later to address the other 20%. While our
findings suggest that the negative effects of a lack of
ATD in IT work are more severe than ever, there is
greater likelihood for important items to fall between
the cracks in today’s IT environment.
ATD has substantial power as an untapped
resource for improving IT practice and quality. This
study shows that ATD connotes excellence in the
minds of IT professionals, and ATD is overwhelm-
ingly viewed as important to IT work. However, sev-
eral important challenges remain if ATD is to assume
a bigger role.
First and foremost, the meaning of ATD requires
clarification that is translatable into clear action. The
lack of agreement about the definition of ATD could
explain why it is not given more explicit recognition
in IT selection practices and the IT literature. Thus,
an important challenge for IT researchers and practi-
tioners is to clarify the meaning of ATD and opera-
tionalize it in a concrete way.
A second challenge is to examine ATD assessment
techniques as they relate to IT selection. Various psy-
chological instruments assess ATD or closely related
measures. For example, the Temperament Survey and
the Myer-Kendall Assessment Survey include ATD;
other tests, such as the 16PF Personality Test, the
Employment Productivity Index, and the Occupa-
tional Personality Questionnaire, include measures
called “perfectionism,” “accuracy,” and “detail con-
92 July 2005/Vol. 48, No. 7 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM
sciousness” [1]. Future research could address the
effectiveness of these measures for IT selection or
develop new measures specifically designed to assess
ATD in IT work. However, it should be recognized
that ATD is but one important consideration in IT
hiring.
Another important challenge is to identify effective
ways to improve ATD in the IT work force. The par-
ticipants in this study offered many ideas for improv-
ing ATD, but there is a need to identify best practices.
IT management should reexamine whether IT
employees are given clear expectations about ATD
through coaching and training programs; if not, qual-
ity training programs offer one important vehicle to
teach ATD concepts. c
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James J. Cappel (cappe1jj@cmich.edu) is an associate professor in
the Business Information Systems Department, College of Business
Administration, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI.
Victor R. Prybutok is Regents Professor in the Information
Technology and Decision Sciences Department, College of Business
Administration, University of North Texas, Denton, TX.
Benny Varghese was a research associate at Central Michigan
University, Mount Pleasant, when this work was done and is now
employed by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare,
Philadelphia, PA.
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