What does accuracy mean as a core value?
Accuracy as a core value means getting facts, figures and details exactly right, checking your work and your sources so that people can rely on what you tell them.
“Roughly right” makes you uncomfortable. The figures should add up, the name should be spelled correctly, the quote should be what the person actually said. Small errors don’t feel small to you, because they undermine trust in everything around them. You’re often the one who spots the typo on slide 14 or the date that doesn’t match. Being wrong in public bothers you more than it seems to bother most people.
What does accuracy look like in practice?
- You recheck the totals before a spreadsheet goes to anyone else.
- You correct a small factual error in conversation, even at a dinner party.
- You go back to the original source, even when there’s a perfectly good summary.
- You read a contract line by line before signing.
- You measure twice before drilling into the wall.
When is accuracy overplayed?
Precision everywhere is expensive. You might slow a team down perfecting numbers that only needed to be ballpark, correct people in ways that feel pedantic, or struggle to decide until every detail is confirmed. Some situations reward speed over exactness, and missing that can cost more than a minor error would. At its best, this value matches the level of precision to what’s at stake. Before the third recheck, you could ask whether being exactly right here would change the decision.
Often confused with
Accuracy vs Rigour
Rigour is a thorough, careful method of working and reasoning. Accuracy is about whether the final answer is actually correct.
Accuracy vs Quality
Quality is the overall standard of something, including how it feels and how useful it is. Accuracy is narrower: are the facts, figures and details right?
Accuracy vs Truth
Truth is about what’s real at the level of the big picture. Accuracy is about getting the details exactly right, down to the decimal point.
Questions to sit with
- Where are you insisting on precision that nobody will use?
- How do you react when you find an error in your own work that nobody else noticed?
- When did correcting someone’s detail cost you more goodwill than it was worth?
More values in Order
Structure, precision and control.
About the author
Matt Rutherford is a Career and Leadership Coach. The Values Finder is the same exercise he uses with his coaching clients. He also writes Stuff that MattRs, a weekly newsletter with practical ideas to help you think clearer and work better.
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