CAD Standard Concept – Don’t Major on the Minors

The Standard should not get overly focused, nor spend too much time documenting things that people are not having problems with.

Don’t spend too much time majoring in the minors. If you do then you will create a monstrosity CAD Standard that no one uses. It is overly focused. It moves past the concept of creating the target and it starts defining the exact way of hitting it.

Sometimes this is okay. If you have a definite demand for doing something one way only, then that should be documented. If you have a pain point that many users are falling in to, then document how to avoid it.

Otherwise, just paint the target and let them define how to get there. This is not to say that you should allow any method that might get overly creative. Your standard should define the proper end result without defining the steps to get there. That is reserved for the training manual.

Spending too much time and wording on areas that most people never have trouble with may get your team mired in the minutia and not moving toward productivity.

The amount of time you spend on any given topic is related to the amount of time that you spend correcting the problem. If an area is not a problem, move through it quickly. If it is a constant source of troubles, then spend more time working through that issue. The time you spend on these areas will pay off.