Category Archives: Communication

#95 Set the right priority

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A few things in your life will be of high priority, even urgent:

  • A flat tire.
  • A crying baby.
  • A need to use the bathroom.
  • Thirst.

Not everything you say will be of high priority. Not everything you ask will be of high priority. In fact, I’d like to boldly state that many things that you consider “urgent” are simply a need for instant gratification.

Here is something to try: when you send an email, mark them with a “low priority.” Most enterprise class tools (like Microsoft Outlook) have this facility. If they don’t, simply type “Low priority” as the first line of your email. Pretend you have to pay large sums of money when you mark an email as “urgent.” And don’t send an email unless you can clearly tell the receiver the purpose of the message: to inform (but why?), to act (be specific), or to vote (and why).

Above all, don’t train your email readers to ignore your emails.

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#93 “It can be done”

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This phrase used to give me hope, even a “thrill.” Now it depresses and even annoys me. What it needs to do is give me cautious optimism. I reflected upon why this phrase stirs my emotions, and how I’ve evolved in my thinking, and here is what I found.

When I say “It can be done” or someone says it to me (the speaker), it means, “I’ve thought about the various aspects and I can see a path to the solution. I have the experience to solve the problem, or enough knowledge to create or invent one.”

What it does not give me is: a plan, deliverables, roadmap, risk analysis, budget, scope, service level agreement, quality level, and capability analysis. In other words, it gives me no assurance that it will be done in the time frame and to the quality I desire. I only get the illusion that “it will be done.”

Meanwhile, I (or the speaker) have declared victory and moved on to the next problem. I (or the speaker) forgot that execution is what matters. All solutions work on paper, power point slides, and whiteboards.

This creates a problem for two reasons:

  • It gives me (or the listener) false hope that the problem will be solved within desired cost, time, and be of desired quality.
  • Further commitments are made on the hope that the problem will be solved by me (or the speaker). This multiplies the false hope and resulting disappointment.

You can only imagine how much disappointment is being created on a daily basis with this simple phrase. My alternate choices are:

  • “I will do it.”
  • “Let me get back to you.”
  • “I see a way out, but I don’t want to set expectations that I cannot meet.”
  • “I’ve got some ideas, but I don’t want you to think I am signing up to deliver this.”

I’d love to read your comments if you have a better phrasing.

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