DeadLines

Somehow I've managed to go several weeks without a deadline. That hasn't happened to me in years, but I'm going to do what I can to keep the streak alive. I'm getting a lot done, including a lot of the really important but seldom urgent things (rest, exercise, time with friends, finally reading Jerry's Intro to General Systems Thinking) that we put off when faced with stiff deadlines.

I'd be interested in seeing discussion of the question How useful are deadlines, and under what circumstances? - StuartScott 2004.10.13

Well, FWIW, I didn't write An Introduction to General Systems Thinking under a deadline. In fact, it took me 14 years to get it right, but it's lasted a lot longer than that. So, maybe deadlines are okay for short-lived systems, but if you want long-lasting quality, it might be better to let quality, not schedule, be your deciding factor. Some things take as long as they take. That's one reason we run AYE the way we do. Important topics can't be confined to 50-minutes of PP bullet points. - JerryWeinberg 2004.10.13

I suspect deadlines are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, if properly set, they place a limit on the resources used to get a job done. In that case, you'll probably (emphasis on the probably) finish before the deadline. If it turns out your estimate was wrong, you'll need to reevaluate and, perhaps, renegotiate the deadline. On the other hand, if intended to prevent the use of resources (I think this is far more typical), deadlines wind up preventing quality, if not in the deadlined activity, then in follow-on activities due to burn-out and resource theft.

To apply this to Jerry's point, the experiential learning at AYE does have deadlines, but they are set based on what the effort is believed to take not the other way around. Sessions I've attended have sometimes completed the work early, but that allows more time for discussion of the activity.

I'm particularly interested in Tim Lister's presentations this time around to get better ideas on how to do the estimates given the uncertainties. I've attended an earlier short presentation of his on the subject and left with too many new ideas (always the best). I'll probably buy Waltzing with Bears once I finish Peopleware

MikeMelendez 2004.10.14

In my work environment, it frequently takes a crisis imposed by an "aggressive" deadline to get a group to focus on any one project. We have one manager who's one real skill is to create a crisis that gets others focused. He's a great believer in creating "compelling events." And in the current culture it works, kind of. (He doesn't have much to add once he's lit the fuse, though.)

But I wonder why the organization feels it can move ahead only by staggering from one crisis to another. There seems to be an addiction to crises and deadlines.

The addiction to deadlines seems to encourage short-term thinking both forward and backward. People tend to look forward only as far as the crushing deadline. They look backward only to the point they began the current task. The big picture isn't visible from this mental perspective. - StuartScott 2004.10.14

Scott, this is a good example to use in several AYE sessions. Mine, for example, on organizational mapping, but also any session that uses diagrams of effects (DOE) ought to give you some great insights to bring back. - JerryWeinberg 2004.10.14

If I recall correctly, DOEs are covered in Jerry's General Principles of System Design. You might consider some of Jerry's books as LifeLines. -- Hey, its a new game called MakeJerryBlush. :-)

I envisage LifeLines as a kind of umbilical cord, or if your into StrategyBoardGaming the equivalent of LinesOfCommunication. DeadLines though, I invision as cutting through the LifeLines - You can't communicate or think beyond the deadline.

If you're wondering what juice I'm on, I think its because I've finished my contract, a deadline of sorts, and my creativity is going potty. -- HuwLloyd 2004.10.15

Isn't anyone going to stand up for deadlines, or target dates, or whatever you want to call them? They're certainly useful in manufacturing or construction, where you need to get certain materials on a schedule so that you can keep going.

And if you're going to put on a show, it's nice to publish a date so the audience and actors can show up at the same time.

But a lot of the work I've been involved with in the last few years suffers as damage from deadlines at least as much as it benefits. - StuartScott 2004.10.19

Stuart, I have had too much negative experience with deadlines in the last few years to consider standing up for them. Funny how they may move at the end of a project, but not until then.

There is a thread called WhatSlowsYourProjectsDown. One quote from it is "How about "If you don't have time to do it over, do it right the first time"? DonGray 2004.05.05"

SherryHeinze 2004.10.19

Updated: Tuesday, October 19, 2004