Not Everything Is an Emergency

In this age of on-demand TV and same day shipping, we've become accustomed to things happening on an increasingly short timescale. Unfortunately, when this expectation is carried over into an organizational environment, it can lead to treating professional expertise as a trivial commodity.

There are certainly times when speed is of the essence, but we need to recognize that the once we have automated the more mundane, repetitive tasks, what is left are those chores that require a more flexible and considered approach. Knowledge work can take time, and does not always proceed as planned.

If someone pushes back against an aggressive timeline with a desire to spend a little more time thinking about the problem, do not assume that they are just being lazy or are trying to undermine the process. Instead, assume that they are professionals who are as committed to improvement as you are. Not everything is an emergency, and a couple of weeks spent investigating on the front end could save months on the back end. (This reminds me of the old adage, "There isn't time to do it right the first time, but there's always time to do it over.")

Giving people some space to explore does not mean that you cannot impose deadlines. Projects need to move forward and even the "best" solution will always be a compromise between competing factors. At some point, decisions will need to be made and changes implemented. But there is no need to insist on "next day delivery" just because we have become conditioned to expect it in other parts of our lives. Faster is not necessarily better -- better is better.