Deadlines are almost always phony. If a field mouse is being chased by a fox it has X amount of time before it’s captured and eaten. That’s a deadline. “If we don’t get this project finished by 5:00 we’re done for” isn’t. That’s manufactured panic. The truth is, not much ever needs to be completed, unequivocally, positively, and absolutely for sure, before any particular deadline.
Middle managers invent deadlines to terrorize those below them to scamper when walking would be more productive. They think their job is to get things done quickly. It’s not. Their job is to get things done well. Time can be compromised; quality cannot. Haste makes waste. A hurried job is asking for trouble. Mistakes cost money, and time. Driven workers are not happy workers. Managers who create futile tizzies will not be rewarded. But they will probably remain middle managers.
When CEO’s learn about these incompetents, they usually promote them to positions of little importance. This is called being kicked upstairs. Firing would be better except that in big corporations firing is often a complicated business. Kicking them upstairs is easier.
For most of my design career, I worked alone or with a small group of helpers. My main job was design, but I also brought in the business and talked to the clients.
Each project had a probable date for completion. These were not deadlines. They were estimates of how long I thought it would take to do the work properly. If something went wrong, I would call the client immediately to let them know that the estimated time would need to be extended. This was never a problem. They were happy to have the update.
When I joined Wyse Advertising I continued in the same way. That worked fine for a while. Then the business grew. Eventually, I had a staff of some 30 people. Doing the design work plus maintaining contact with all the clients was becoming difficult. Marc Wyse, the President of Wyse Advertising, suggested I hire a couple of Account Executives.
I did.
It worked fine for a while.
One day I came into work and found myself in a whirlwind of excited staff dashing about. “What’s going on?” I asked. One of the new account executives, Dave, had just informed the crew that the deadline for one of the projects had been moved to 3:00. I called the client. Surprised, he said “ What deadline”? He didn’t know about any deadline. We chatted for a bit. I told him how the work was progressing, He thanked me, and hung-up. Then I talked to Dave.
I bought two small tape recorders, one for each account executive. Thereafter, I required them to place their recorders on the clients desk, and record each and every conversation. When they returned to the office the recordings were transcribed for my review. This was a lot of work, but it saved a lot of trouble.
Most of the clients I’ve worked with have been CEO’s, or owners of their own business. They were all smart, nice folks. That’s what made them successful.
None of them ever talked about deadlines.