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Be more particular
meticulous
muh-TIK-yuh-luss
- 01Understand
- 02Hear
- 03Distinguish
- 04See it used
- 05Choose how it lands
Showing extreme and deliberate care over small details.
It credits care taken over each small part, which is a claim you can make about a two hour job as well as a two year one.
Thorough means everything was covered. Meticulous means each small part was given real care, which can be true even of a very small task.
work“The handover was meticulous, down to which supplier answers the phone after five.”
conversation“He is meticulous about the sourdough and completely indifferent to the rest of the kitchen.”
thought“I was meticulous about the parts nobody would ever check, which should have told me something.”
You are asking a busy colleague to take over a handover that has to be exact.
Meaning held still: Get the work done carefully without implying they are usually careless.
“This one needs to be meticulous, which is why I am asking you and not the rota.”
It lands as: Makes the standard part of the request and makes the choice of person a compliment.
Tradeoff: Raising the bar out loud adds pressure to a task they were probably going to do well anyway.“Check every line against the contract. If something is missing in March, it lands on us.”
It lands as: Names the exact standard and the exact stake, so nobody has to guess what careful means.
Tradeoff: The specificity feels like supervision to someone senior enough to resent it.“Take the time on this one. There is no prize for finishing early.”
It lands as: Gives permission to go slowly, which is usually the thing that stops people being careful.
Tradeoff: Without naming the standard, they may take longer and still miss the thing you were worried about.Watch for: Meticulous describes the care taken, not the result. Meticulous work can still rest on a wrong assumption.
First met in The Last Key. Saving keeps that example with the word.