Imposing Limits
The “Back to Basics” Series
“I don’t need time. What I need is a deadline.”
Duke Ellington
American jazz pianist, Composer Conductor
(1899 — 1974)
“When will you make an end?” Pope Julius
“When it’s finished!” Michaelangelo
Excerpted from The Agony and The Ecstasy
Ever noticed that writing, drawing, building a presentation, you know, “work” expands to fill the time allotted? That’s obviously a canard — perhaps a cliché — but it also has the virtue of being true. So, whether the creative type is someone else or even — you, there’s a discipline involved in requesting, managing and getting “work” across the finish line.
Our first instinct is usually to say, “See what you can do with this…” Three months later, we check back, wondering what’d happened. And there, we discover that some preliminary thinking has taken place, but little else.
If you want it done quickly and cheaply, say so and make it stick!
“You have three days. I want the work on my desk by Thursday at 4:00 pm. You’ve got five hundred dollars, you may use four colors and two fonts. Have fun!”
This approach works equally well with just about every project. Limit the range of options, limit the time to think and re-think.
Start with yourself when you’re the “Project Team.” Give yourself a fixed amount of time and resources, and be honest about stopping on or very near the deadline. You’ll be surprised at how quickly a presentation, a paper, a meeting plan, a new design can find its way to completion if you view it as a “Do or Die” proposition.
“Ready, Set, Go!®” is a fine project template for a document or a spoken interaction from a phone call to a meeting. So, don’t fight the template; use it as a way to foster swift progress to an acceptable finish, then allow some extra time to improve, polish, revise and upgrade the project as time permits.
Don’t keep waiting for perfection while nothing gets done. Go for Fine, Good, Acceptable; then improve.
As it turns out, a big part of successful projects, is the imposing of limits.
Applications
1. For You
How many times have you had to finish a project before catching the last train home? You wrote fast right? But not badly. And if you allowed time for editing and sent it off to a colleague too, the polish also found its way into the finished product. Was it perfect, maybe not, but look at the time economy…
2. For the Family
That elementary school science project will eat the weekend, but will it be better if you allow it to consume two? Many of us owe our sanity to a parent who taught this lesson early — and sometimes often. “Give it the time it deserves; not a moment more!”
3. For Work
Perhaps some of your work should be indulged right up to perfection. But how much? Is it possible that many of your individual or team projects can benefit from an imposed deadline? Let’s not write policy just yet but give it some thought! Experiment. And Make an End!
Not every project is a Sistine Chapel.
And You may not be Ellington.
But perhaps you too, need a Deadline
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