Deadlines Spur Action

I was in the 8th grade the first time I ever tried to read "Dune." I had chosen the book for a book report and, despite having weeks to read all 900 pages of the tale of Muad'dib, I waited until the night before to start. But crafty-old-me had a plan. I was going to rent the movie (on VHS), then type up the report, and be ready to present to the class the next day. What could go wrong?

A few historical items of note:

• This was the mid-1980s, and the internet was not that robust. Finding a helpful summary online was not an option.

• When I said type up a report, it meant typing it up on a typewriter—a clickety-clackity typewriter.

• The only "Dune" movie available was the 1984 version from David Lynch—yes, the one with Sting.

• There was no ChatGPT. Unless you want to count the chat my dad was giving me about how I was going to bomb the assignment.

It might come as no surprise that the movie was of no help. Entertaining, yes, but not so useful. Also, fun fact, a teenager cannot consume the entirety of Frank Herbert’s masterpiece between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am.

I pleaded with my parents to keep me home, but I’d have had better luck against the Sardaukar.

So I went to school, stood awkwardly in front of the class for a few minutes, and mumbled something about how sandworms were cool, then sat down. I received a D, and it was the most merciful act a teacher has ever shown me or anyone.

So why the tale of woe from the planet Arrakis? Well, you can be sure I started the next book early. I was well ahead of schedule for each report and assignment for the rest of the year. My merciful teacher also let me do some extra credit to get my overall grade up. This whole experience taught me two very valuable lessons.

• First, “Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings obliteration.”

• Second, deadlines spur action; consequences spur urgency.

I’ve seen this time and again in projects. If there are no deadlines or if projects don’t have clear milestones, they can languish for months. You need to put your team (or yourself) on a deadline to really get things done.

How do you achieve this?

1. Understand the scope of the whole project: At some point early on, you need to look at what you are trying to accomplish. All projects have some natural phases, but you should take a step back and take in the entirety of what you are attempting to do. If you are building a shed, know its size, type, and location. For a book, draft a high-level outline. Understanding the full scope helps in creating a schedule and setting milestones.

2. Break it down: Once you have your head wrapped around the task at hand, you need to divide the project into different phases. These represent a significant portion of work, forming the milestones.

3. Set specific goals for each milestone: Each milestone should have a specific goal or set of deliverables associated with it. I like to assign themes to these. For example, we have a project right now at work where we are on Public Beta 4 - “The Map Tool”. We’ve grouped all the bugs and feature requests of revamping the map tool into one release. Public Beta 5 is “The Grid”, this release is all about the crossword maker and how to make it better. Groupings like this help keep your goals measurable and clearly defined so that it's apparent when the milestone has been hit.

4. Set realistic timeframes: Estimate the time for each milestone, considering task complexity and resources. Sprints of 2-3 weeks are a good rule of thumb.

5. Assign responsibilities: Along with determining the time frames, you also need to work out who will be responsible for delivering on each part of the milestone. Everyone involved should be aware of the milestones, including what they entail, and their deadlines.

6. Adjust as needed: Monitor progress and be flexible to update plans as necessary. Remember the Iron Triangle of Project Management. If the delivery date isn’t flexible, your scope or resources need to be.

7. Celebrate you achievements: Take time after each milestone to take the win. This serves as a great motivational tool for the team (or yourself).

Setting up various checkpoints keeps your project on track, identifies potential issues early, and keeps the team motivated. And again remember that deadlines spur action. No one likes being late or behind, a little schedule can be very motivating. Oh and many years later I finally did read “Dune”. In fact, I have part of the litany against fear tattooed on my arm. I think my teacher would approve.

On Gratitude…

I was chatting with my friend Nancy at work today and asked how her week was going. Her step-daughter had a doctor’s appointment yesterday, and she went with her. It sounded like the kind of appointment where you don’t want to go alone, but her husband couldn’t go because of work, and her dad also couldn’t be there. However, Nancy was able to be there and offer support. Don’t worry, everything is fine; it was just a bit scary for a bit.

Anyway, both Nancy and I were reflecting on how grateful we are to work at a place that is so flexible. It is a luxury I don’t take for granted. Our company has a pretty amazing work-life balance that is ingrained in our company culture. So today, I am grateful for my job (and the people I work with). We are very lucky to work somewhere that understands work is important, but family is the priority.