[Neurons] 2021 Neurons #64 FORGET DEADLINES

Sun Sep 26 23:27:51 EDT 2021

L. Michael Hall

2021 Neurons #64

September 27, 2021

Living Wisely #2

FORGET DEADLINES,

THEY ARE DEADLY

Many people think that to get things done, to be productive, to accomplish
goals, and to achieve their highest and best, they need deadlines.  But this
is fallacious.  They say, "I work best under deadlines."  "When I have a
deadline, I can always count on having lots of energy at the very end and
produce my best work."  But this is more self-deception than anything.

True enough, deadlines are dramatic and they do focus attention- at least at
the 12th hour. But actually they are very poor tools for being productive or
producing high quality work.  While you may think they are helpful, they
ultimately are counter-productive and undermine effectiveness. 

To understand a deadline, let's define what we're talking about.  In this
the term itself should be a warning that this is not the most positive of
ideas- deadline.  This term developed during the Civil War.  In prison
camps, the guards would draw a line for the boundary beyond which if any
prisoner walked across, he would be shot. This is still the first definition
given by Webster, "a line drawn within or around a prison that a prisoner
passes at the risk of being shot."  So given this attractive picture, and
you still desire deadlines!?

By way of transfer, deadline came to mean "a date or time before which
something must be done."  Ah, something must be done.  And why must it be
done on that date?  Who says and for what reason?  These questions are
important.  That's because most deadlines are far too arbitrary and
therefore unrealistic.  The date given may be an aspiration as a goal.  It
may be a dream.  But how is that date established?  Who set it up?  What
factors were considered?  What variables?  Was there any consideration for
delays, unexpected events, sickness, the discovery of unexpected elements?
Ask these kinds of questions when you set a deadline or when someone sets
one for you. 

How are most deadlines set?  Many are set as a way to hurry workers.  The
assumption is "people will work harder, put in more effort if there's a
deadline."  Some are set as a way to beat out a competitor.  When it's
discovered that a competitor is planning a new product, then the pressure is
to put employees to beat them to the punch.  Some deadlines are completely
arbitrary- it is set so that the boss can go on his vacation at a certain
time.

A deadline implies and produces a product mentality over a process
mentality.  It focuses you on a product at a certain date and essentially
ignores the process for achieving it and the quality of that process. All
that matters is meeting the deadline.  If instead, you start by thinking
about the process- then you think about the steps, coordinating them, and
the many dynamic interactions.

Now it is true that some deadlines are inevitable and we just have to live
with them.  If a paper has to be turned in on a certain date because that's
when the professor grades them and concludes the term, then the thing to do
is to create a well-formed plan for achieving your goal.  Then it is not
about a deadline as much as effectively achieving your goal.  How?

           Identify the beginning and ending states.  Where are you now.
Where do you need to be?

           Identify all of the intervening steps to get you to your goal.
What are the steps?  How many are there?

           Resource each step.  What resources do you need, internal and
external? 

           Specify the strategy to achieve each step?  A learning strategy,
research, memory, writing, etc.?

           Build into the strategy appropriate rewards and punishments.
What will be the propulsion system you design that will set up pushes and
pulls?

           Identify emergencies and contingencies do you need to
anticipate?

           Create a flow chart of the entire process.                    

Deadlines given to you or imposed upon you can often be negotiated so that
they are realistic and ecological.  If someone says that they want something
by a certain date, engage in an exploration conversation to discover the
details, the thinking behind the date, etc.

           What leads you to set the date at X?

           What are the factors that convince you this is realistic and
doable?

           Where in this have you scheduled time and space for emergencies
that might arise?

           How much leeway is build into the date? 

           If a delay occurs, what is Plan B and Plan C?

           How will you stay on top of things and monitor how it is going?

           What feedback will you want as information about the ongoing
progress? 

Managers and employers who set deadlines because they want more product,
more money, to beat out the competition often do so at the expense of their
people.  Somehow in the corporate world, the culture of "more and more"
infects them so that they don't think about their employees.  They get
caught up on the never-ending treadmill of going faster and faster.  And
worse yet, if they are stress-junkies themselves, and get off on it, they
may be completely blind to the devastating effect deadlines, pressures,
burning the candle at both ends, etc. has on the health, the well-being, the
family life, etc. of their people.  They need to know that your success
depends on your people's success.  That is one principle that can help you
live more wisely.

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D., Executive Director 

Neuro-Semantics 

P.O. Box 8

Clifton, CO. 81520 USA                             

               1 970-523-7877 

132607 NeuroSemantics Executive Learning Front Cover

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