We’re having a large whiteboard installed in a conference room at my office.

Ahead of the installation, I put wide painter’s tape on the wall, and using a marker, I noted exactly where the bottom edge of the board should be, along with the right and left edges.

I leaned a six-foot-long spirit level against that section of wall, too.

The hope is that the installers will see precisely where the whiteboard should be mounted. And in seeing the level, they’ll be reminded that we care about the details.

All this took about fifteen minutes of my time. It’s an investment in the quality of installation. It’s a way to set up others for doing quality work. It’s me trying to game the system in my favor.

Sometimes, in order to increase the odds that we get what we want, we need to do a little prep work. It would be far easier to give the instructions, “Just get it done,” but it’s a better bet to set the stage for a desired outcome.

* * *

Epilogue: I wasn’t on site when the installers did their work. To my delight, they did the job to spec. Amusingly, I’m told that they saw the leveling tool and sighed, “I guess he wants it to be level.”

Indeed.