Specificity: The Secret to Quality Outcomes
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Specificity: The Secret to Quality Outcomes
Zack Estes
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Publication Note: The Fire Time Magazine appreciates the opportunity to republish this article, which was originally released on January 20, 2025. It is reprinted with permission from Zack Estes, the Founder & CEO of Lean Dirt. To learn more about Zack’s work or connect with his team, visit leandirt.com. Further use, duplication, or distribution is prohibited without the author’s written permission.
When nothing is specified, everything is left to interpretation.
That’s Level 0 specificity—a place where chaos thrives.
People guess, assumptions run wild, and outcomes rarely hit the mark.
If you’ve ever walked into a room where everyone has a different understanding of what’s supposed to happen, you’ve felt the sting of Level 0.
Now let’s move up one level—just one. Level 1 specificity is the baseline. It’s when you start naming things, setting expectations, and providing just enough detail to move forward.
You’re not drowning anyone in unnecessary information.
You’re simply drawing a line in the sand and saying, “This is what good looks like.”
That shift from Level 0 to Level 1 is transformative. It’s the difference between aimlessly wandering and charting a course.
The beauty of Level 1 is its simplicity. You don’t need to specify every micro-detail upfront. You just need to get specific enough to create alignment and eliminate ambiguity.
You don’t need to specify every micro-detail upfront. You just need to get specific enough to create alignment and eliminate ambiguity.
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Why Level 1 Specificity Is Game-Changing
Moving to Level 1 specificity doesn’t mean writing a novel about your processes or turning every task into a 20-page document.
It means creating clarity where there was once confusion.
Here’s why that’s so powerful:
- Eliminates Guesswork: Guessing is a productivity killer. When expectations aren’t clear, people spend more time interpreting than executing. By setting even the most basic specification, you eliminate that ambiguity and free up mental energy for actual work.
- Sets a Baseline for Quality: At Level 0, quality is a moving target. Everyone defines it differently. But at Level 1, you’ve set a minimum standard. It will not be perfect, but it’s a starting point everyone can agree on.
- Enables Accountability: When there’s no specification, there’s no way to measure success. Specificity makes it clear what needs to happen, by whom, and by when. Accountability becomes natural because the expectations are now visible.
- Builds Momentum: Starting at Level 1 creates a foundation for continuous improvement. Once you’ve specified something—even minimally—you’ve created a roadmap that can evolve over time. Iteration becomes easier because you’re building on an existing framework rather than starting from scratch every time.
The Road to Higher Levels of Specificity
The journey doesn’t stop at Level 1. Once you’ve set a basic standard, the process of continuous improvement is all about refining and adding detail where it’s needed.
The key is to add only what’s necessary.
At Level 2, you start addressing the gaps that become visible as you work.
Maybe a process you thought was simple needs more explanation. Or perhaps you’ve realized that certain roles require clearer definitions.
The goal here isn’t to overcomplicate but to clarify where confusion still exists.
As you climb the ladder of specificity, the details you add should always serve a purpose.
“Where the question is, there the answer should be.”
Here’s where many people go wrong: They confuse specificity with complexity.
The best standards are lean and focused. They tell you what you need to know and nothing more.
Think about assembling furniture. A good instruction manual doesn’t list every possible tool you could use; it tells you exactly what tools you must use.
Here’s where many people go wrong: They confuse specificity with complexity.
Find and Fix the Bottleneck
One area that most businesses need specificity in is their start-to-finish production for creating value for customers. This is called a “value stream.”
Once you have a Level 1 map of your value stream, the next step is figuring out where to apply specificity. The key? Identifying the bottleneck.
Every business has a bottleneck—the single point where work slows down, backlogs build, or quality suffers.
It could be a process, a role, a tool, or even a lack of clarity around responsibilities.
At any given time, your business only has one true bottleneck. Your job is to find it.
Because when you increase specificity around the bottleneck—whether by setting clearer standards, improving processes, or redefining roles—you create flow.
Work moves faster, quality improves, and the bottleneck shifts to another part of the business.
The good news? It’ll be smaller than the bottleneck you just solved.
This cycle of identifying and solving bottlenecks is the essence of continuous improvement.
Each iteration brings your business closer to operating as a lean, efficient machine.
So how do you identify bottlenecks? Here are a few simple strategies:
- Analyze the Flow of Work: Map out your processes from start to finish. Look for areas where work piles up, delays occur, or quality issues arise. That’s where the bottleneck likely is.
- Listen to Your Team: Your team often knows where the problems are. Ask them: “What’s slowing you down?” or “Where do things get stuck?” Their insights can point you directly to the bottleneck.
- Use Metrics: Data doesn’t lie. Look at metrics like cycle time, throughput, or error rates. The bottleneck will usually show up as a spike in delays or a dip in output. A lack of data is a lack of specificity.
- Focus on the Constraint: In every system, there’s one constraint that limits overall performance. Improving the constraint has the biggest impact on flow. Don’t waste time optimizing non-bottleneck areas until the bottleneck is resolved. You could make matters worse.
Once you’ve identified the bottleneck, the next step is applying specificity to address it.
Here’s how you do that:
- Clarify Expectations: If the bottleneck is a role or team, start by defining their responsibilities more clearly. What are they expected to deliver? By when? What does success look like?
- Refine Processes: If the bottleneck is a process, map it out step by step. Identify where confusion or inefficiency occurs and specify exactly how each step should be performed.
- Eliminate Ambiguity: Whether it’s unclear instructions or vague goals, eliminate any room for interpretation. Provide clear, actionable guidance.
- Iterate and Monitor: Implement your changes and monitor the results. Has the bottleneck improved? If not, refine further. If it has, move on to the next bottleneck.
This approach is what makes leaders like Elon Musk effective across multiple businesses.
Musk’s primary role is solving for the bottleneck. Whether it’s a production delay at Tesla or a design issue at SpaceX, he identifies the constraint, applies specificity to fix it, and then moves on.
Everything else is delegated.
By focusing on the bottleneck, you ensure that your efforts have the maximum impact.
Instead of spreading your energy thin across the business, you concentrate it where it’s needed most.
Instead of spreading your energy thin across the business, you concentrate it where it’s needed most.
Specificity Is the Key to Flow
The journey from Level 0 to Level 1 specificity is about creating clarity where there was none.
But the journey doesn’t end there.
By continuously identifying and solving bottlenecks, you refine your business, improve flow, and create value for your customers with greater efficiency.
Remember, the goal isn’t to specify everything upfront.
It’s to apply the right level of specificity to the right place at the right time.
Start with the bottleneck, solve for it, and watch as your business becomes a lean, effective operation—one specific step at a time.
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Zack Estes
Zack Estes is the founder of Lean Dirt, an operations advisory company that helps businesses increase profits by systematically increasing productivity.
