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 12 th 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.