TL;DR: That Thursday I quoted $320K instead of $3.2 million to our board nearly ended my career as CIO. Turns out, your promotion literally rewires your brain to miss details. Here's the science behind why executives make dumb mistakes and my ZOOM framework to catch them before they catch you.
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Let me tell you about the most humiliating 30 seconds of my career.
I'm standing in front of our board, crushing my quarterly tech update. We're talking cloud migration, cost savings, the whole nine yards. I'm feeling like the strategic genius they hired me to be.
Then our CFO raises her hand.
"Oliver, quick clarification. You said $3.2 million in annual savings, but your slide shows $320,000."
My stomach drops through the floor. I look at the slide. She's right.
But wait, it gets worse.
"Also, you mentioned 85% system migration. Your team's report says 58%."
The room goes dead quiet. You know that specific boardroom silence where everyone's wondering if you're incompetent or just lying?
Neither. I was just another executive whose brain had literally rewired itself to miss the trees for the forest.
Your Promotion Broke Your Brain (Science Says So)
Here's what nobody warned me about when I became CIO of 1,600 people: The same big-picture thinking that got you promoted is actively sabotaging your ability to catch basic errors.
I'm not making this up. Researchers call it Construal Level Theory. When you get power (yes, your director title counts), your brain literally starts processing information differently. You start seeing patterns instead of pixels. Strategy instead of specifics.
One study had people role-play being powerful, then tested their attention to detail. The "powerful" people consistently missed more errors. Not because they suddenly got dumber. Because their brains switched to satellite mode when they needed microscope mode.
Think about it. When you were an individual contributor, you caught every typo, every decimal error. Now? You're sending emails with wrong dates and quoting numbers that don't match your own reports.
The Triple Threat Making You Look Stupid
After my boardroom disaster, I dove deep into why I'd become terrible at the basic stuff. Turns out, three forces are working against every leader:
1. Your Brain Thinks It's Too Important for Details
Remember when you obsessed over every spreadsheet cell? Now your brain's like, "I'm thinking about STRATEGY, peasant details can wait." You're reading emails like terms of service agreements β just skimming for the general vibe.
2. You're Juggling Flaming Chainsaws (And Calling It "Multitasking")
Some time ago, I approved a $2M budget while thinking about my 2 PM meeting. During a "quick call" about office space, I reviewed a security audit. Made a hiring decision while Slack exploded about a system outage.
Psychological studies consistently find that multitasking reduces accuracy and increases mistakes. Your brain isn't multitasking β it's doing multiple things badly in rapid succession.
3. You've Built a Human Spell-Checker (And It's Making You Lazy)
Here's the sick irony: The more successful you become, the more people catch your mistakes. My assistant fixed my errors so well, I stopped catching them myself. It's like using GPS so long you forget how to read a map.
The ZOOM Framework (That Saved My Reputation)
After humiliating myself in front of the board, I developed a dead-simple system. Yeah, I called it ZOOM because executives love acronyms and this one actually works.
Z - Zero Distractions for Critical Reviews
When reviewing anything with numbers or crucial decisions, I go dark. Phone in the drawer. Slack closed. It's just me and the details for 15-30 minutes. Last week, this caught three vendor contract errors that would've cost us $80K.
O - One Thing at a Time
I stopped pretending I could multitask. Now I block time for single tasks. When reviewing budgets, that's ALL I'm doing. Not planning meetings. Not thinking about lunch. Just numbers.
Yes, it feels inefficient. Know what's more inefficient? Explaining wrong numbers to the board for a week.
O - Outsource Verification (But Stay Involved)
I still have my team check my work. But now I check it first. Then they check it. Then I review their checks. Paranoid? Maybe. But I haven't embarrassed myself in a board meeting since.
M - Methodical Checklists
Fighter pilots use checklists. Surgeons use checklists. But somehow I thought I was too strategic for one? My "Board Presentation Final Review" checklist has saved me countless times. Every number verified. Every percentage double-checked. Every claim backed by data.
The Burnout Connection
Here's the thing about constantly missing details: It's exhausting. You're always in damage control mode, always apologizing, always feeling like you're one mistake away from losing credibility. That chronic stress? That's a one-way ticket to burnout city.
When you implement systems to catch errors BEFORE they happen, you're not just protecting your reputation. You're protecting your sanity. You're preventing those 2 AM panic wake-ups wondering what else you missed.
Trust Your Instinct
Look, if you're reading this thinking "crap, this is me" β you're not alone. This isn't about intelligence. I've seen brilliant executives who can't remember if the budget has five or six zeros.
Your brain isn't broken. Your habits might be.
The same abstract thinking that helps you see market trends makes you miss typos. But you can train your brain to zoom in when it matters.
You just have to want it badly enough. For me, it took public humiliation. For you? Maybe this newsletter is enough.
Tomorrow, pick one document. Review it like your job depends on getting every detail right. Because sometimes, it does.
Until next Sunday!
βOliver
