FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK
by Jay Webster The devil is in the details. That may be true, but I think he may well be easier to find in technology that doesn’t work, political social media posts from friends, and coffee lids that slide open into makeshift sippy cups you’re never quite sure are opened or closed. I certainly get the intent of that phrase “The devil is in the details” … that big ideas are easy, it’s executing them (the “how”) where things get tricky. But if I were in charge of phrases - and 74
bmonthly | DECEMBER 2021
trust me I’ve been asked, but the hours are too infrequent - I would rewrite the phrase as The devil is in the miscommunication or rather, the lack of communication. See, it sorta just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?
I come from a long line of under-communicators; people who often struggle to say, “I love you” or tell you how they feel or what they are thinking. UnderBut if I were in charge of phrases — and trust me, I’ve communicating isn’t so much a been asked, but the hours are too infrequent — I would lack of words, it’s more a matter rewrite the phrase as The devil is in the miscommunicaof not saying the things that are tion or rather the lack of communication. See, it sorta relevant to expressing our feeljust rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?
