If you try to control everything …

The statement, 'an effort to control everything may end up in controlling nothing' is in regard with the principle of 'Management by Exception'. It stresses on the fact that everything cannot be effectively controlled. According to this principle, rather than controlling each and every deviation in performance, an acceptable limit of deviations in various activities should be set and only those deviations that go beyond the acceptable range should be brought to the notice of the managers for control. In other words, only the major deviations which are beyond permissible limit should be acknowledged. For instance, suppose the acceptable range of increase in the input cost is set at 3 percent. In this case, only a more than 3% increase in the input cost (say 7%) should be brought to the notice of the managers. On the other hand, a less than 3% increase (say 1%) should be neglected. Hence, an effort should be there to control only the major things instead of trying to control everything.