Urgency
Yesterday I was in a project meeting. The project in question -- a large, weighty beast with many heads -- is running woefully behind for reasons mostly unrelated to me, but possibly related to the fact that we waste an hour every morning discussing how late we are.I find the meetings incredibly painful to attend, since approximately three minutes of every hour pertains to something I care about or can contribute to in any meaningful way. Usually, I doodle in my planner, or (if I'm feeling particularly mature) work on code design.
Anyway, yesterday I'm dutifully doodling or designing or doing something equally irrelevant, when I hear one of our directors, discussing the schedule, say something very similar to "Doesn't she realize we have a goal set for Friday? Does she understand what goals are?"
Since I'm male (verifiable upon request), the comment in question didn't pertain to me, so I very nearly tuned it out. In fact, it was in reference to a very competent programmer (I'll call her "Joan") who had, the day before, been assigned responsibility for several showstopper issues related to a software system on which she had never worked. Would Joan have them done by Friday? Who the hell knows? Is it reasonable to expect Joan to have them done by Friday? Again, who knows? Well, the director did, that's for sure. To this particular director (dubbed "The Eye of Sauron" by another developer), the completion goal set for Friday wasn't merely a goal; it was dictated somewhere in Deuteronomy. "And she who doth not resolve her showstoppers by the Sabbath eve, she shall be an abomination unto the Business Unit."
It wasn't until later that it occurred to me that there may have also been some underlying prejudice in the statement as well, as Joan isn't a native English speaker. "Does she understand what goals are?" Yeah, I think she does, thanks for asking.
Anyway, this all got me reflecting on time pressure and urgency, particularly as it relates to software development, but as more of a general concern as well. Why is it that almost everyone whose workspace has a door that closes thinks that rushing to complete something entails no additional risk of failure?
I've been rushing to get my part of the megaproject complete. While it's almost there, the more pressure I get because of deadlines, the worse my work becomes, making it harder and harder to meet those deadlines. And the worse my work gets, the more tempted I am to just walk away from it for a half hour and take care of business at Worth1000.com instead. Or blog.
I've always claimed I work best under pressure, but I'm beginning to think that's not at all true. I work best with the possibility of reward for quick results, but not with the threat of punishment for failure to achieve quick results. I suspect lots of people are like me in this, and I wonder why management (even "enlightened" management) doesn't do more to provide positive reinforcement.
Oh, we get achievement awards here. The last award I got was a pen. There's a supply cabinet full of pens 30 paces from my cube; a pen is supposed to motivate me? I once got a $25 gift card for the Mall of America that was only worth $20; it had already started to lose value because it was over a year old when it was presented to me. On the other hand, the negative reinforcement here doesn't involve whips and chains, so I suppose I should be grateful.
posted by MeanMrMustard @ 12:47 PM
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