I Have Only Found One Typo. Amazing Work Done by David Meerman Scott.

I recently read David Meerman Scott's book The New Rules of Sales and Service: How to Use Agile Selling, Real-Time Customer Engagement, Big Data, Content, and Storytelling to Grow Your Business. It was published in 2014, and I read it from cover to cover.

It is a very good book. As I was reading, I thought the book was almost perfect. Then I found one typo.

That may sound like criticism, but I mean it as praise. I am a very careful reader, and this may be the only typo I have ever found in a professionally published book. Finding just one typo in an entire book is a strong sign of quality. It shows discipline, editing, and attention to detail.

Why Typos Matter to Me

I am Max Li, an adjunct professor at Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts. Merrimack has an unusual final exam tradition. At many colleges and universities, final exams last about two hours. At Merrimack, final exams last three hours.

Because of that longer time block, I usually give my students relatively long final exams. To my surprise, many students finish in less than 1.5 hours, about half of the allocated time. In essay answers, I often see many typos.

I have told students before that they may lose points if I encounter typos in exams, homework, or projects. Even so, I still see many errors. I also tell them that this picky behavior was shaped by my professional career.

Software Engineering Teaches Precision

As a professional software engineer, I learned that typos in computer programs are not allowed. A compiler does not forgive a typo. If you mix up value1 and value2, or write elseif when the language expects elif, the program may fail.

That habit carries over into writing. Words matter. Details matter. Carefulness matters. We should avoid typos and take the time to check our work.

I encourage readers to learn more about David Meerman Scott and his work at davidmeermanscott.com.