The Comma Test: How I Decide What's Actually Worth Fighting For

The dumbest argument I've ever had in business was about a comma.

After Mass Relevance merged with Spredfast, I had no W2 for the first time ever. I leaned into Clearhead, the company I'd co-founded with Matty Wishnow, as part-time CMO, working for Matty as CEO.

I was writing content and used the Oxford comma, as rational people do. Matty hated it. We went back and forth, both certain we were right, until I finally said okay. Bill Murray's line from Meatballs ran through my head: "It just doesn't matter!"

That comma taught me three things (none of them about punctuation):

1. Certain isn't the same as important. I was sure I was right. That had nothing to do with whether the fight was worth having.

2. 80/20 applies to you, not just your strategy. I'd preached Pareto about customers for years...never about my own perfectionism. Maybe 20% of the details in any work ever reach the customer. The rest is craftsmanship for its own sake. Or ego in a craftsman's costume.

3. Role beats title. I was Chairman on paper. In that seat I was CMO, and the CMO doesn't get final say on the CEO's copy.

Now I run the Comma Test before digging in on any detail: will the customer ever see the difference? If not, let go. The tighter you grip the small stuff, the less hand you have free for the big stuff.

(P.S. Chicago and MLA require the Oxford comma. AP says skip it. We were both right, depending whose style guide runs your company. I still think mine did.)

What's the comma you're still fighting for?