The dark side of fast delivery
Last week, it happened to me twice. I had a deadline, I was totally focused on my delivery mode, and the only thing I was thinking about under the time pressure was: let’s get it done. The drive of getting something "out of the door" was real. For me at the bottom of it lies a combination of never sitting too long on something by myself and getting feedback as early as possible, and the amazingly rewarding sensation of thinking something away from the to-do list. And from my brain.
But you probably sensed it, there is a plot twist coming up.
In both cases, I did not cross the finish line. I did not finish my slide deck, or put together my proposal on the same day. In both cases, I did not fulfill what I put myself up to do. And in both cases it was because of some external factors disrupting my flow, making me wait until the day after to finish. And do you know what happened as a consequence? In the process of waiting, I self-iterated my ideas, making them better than what they were.
With some hours of distance from the problem, I was able for example to abstract a pattern instead of pointing to a specific need. And I was also able to reframe an execution challenge from being extremely internal-structure-focused, to being customer and value-driven-focused.
In both cases what I, in the beginning, thought was best to do was optimize for speed. As a consequence, I got blindsided by crossing the finish line as soon as possible and didn't let my brain process and see the bigger picture. But things did not go my way, and I realized that optimizing for speed was not the best.
In both cases, I still delivered on time, and I did a better job. So my question to you is: are you sure you want to finish now?
Kai Pilger via Unsplash
Sometimes the external pressure and (especially) the one we put on ourselves, can feel overwhelming. Yet allowing the brain to take a step back is always a good idea. This was actually a reminder for me that procrastination might be the enemy of productivity, but it can for sure be a resource for creativity and better ideas. As Adam Grant smartly states in his books Originals
Once the task is finished, we stop thinking about it. But when it is interrupted ans get undone, it stays active in our minds
And once the task is active we can find another angle, explore a new way of phrasing, and find a new solution. Exactly what happened to me twice in the past week.
The lesson I take with me - think about what you optimize for, and allow space for some procrastination, because it will make your product better. Might the product be an idea, a slide deck, the proposal for a new process, an iteration for a new feature, or even a slack message that you feel is "super important to answer now".
In my experience, it is rare that things cannot wait some hours or even some days. It is our choice to not create that little procrastination, a choice that I now invite you to reconsider.
If you think about it, you probably already naturally gravitate towards sleeping on big decisions before you make them. So try to be exactly as intentional with your work. Allow some time in between your “now it is good to go” version and your actual final one to let that creativity flourish. And resist the stress of getting it out, I can almost guarantee that the final result will benefit from it.
