“Just so” is the obsessive’s vernacular for fussing. Its less than scientific quality means it is a term commonly uttered by old maids or other similarly marginalized fuss-pots not normally aligned with business but who by accident of nature appear to possess an acute awareness of the necessity of everything. The expression is magical. It says absolutely nothing. Yet it sustains an undeniable element of propriety.

Though it is easy to dismiss or diminish those who dwell upon detail, the attribute – if I may distinguish it as such – isn’t guaranteed to be a matter of choice. Certainly there are those who enforce themselves to observe critical standards – whether for example in research or performance. Then there are those who could no more deny the ambition than a silk rose will spring to life.

For those caught in this native web of “perfection” it is a hurdle not surmounted willfully. The accepted opinion is that impeccability is a shifting standard depending upon matters like cost, target audience and risk. The person who has been bitten by the imperative to have everything “just so” will at the risk of disruption cling to the demand. Nor as is possible within the commercial vernacular is it likely that substandard qualities will be tolerated. To attempt skirting this infection is normally futile even when momentarily enhanced by miscalculation or mediocrity. Like an old love there’s nothing to disguise something that’s just so.