TBD 97: Very Specific Hell of Not Giving Yourself Time
💀 A lifeline for rethinking your deadlines.
Let's talk about the very specific hell of not giving yourself enough time.
Ambition comes with high expectations. We want what we want. We want it sooner rather than later, please. What we set out to accomplish will make things better, feel safer, and generally fix things. So of course, we'd like to get that done as soon as possible.
In my coaching work, my talented clients want to deliver results to an organization; or find a new role; or launch their big idea — yet they expect this to happen incredibly quickly. This is doubly true if you were recently an IC who could control the velocity of your work. When it doesn’t happen on their expected (and completely subjective) timeline, they can get incredibly disappointed, blame themselves, feel resigned and shitcan the whole dream.
Wait! Let’s consider a few things!
Getting work finished quickly often comes at a cost (believe me, I worked at a certain company with the mantra “move fast and break things.”) :
😈 Wasted effort: We aren’t certain on what problem we’re spending time to solve.
😈 Wasted time: We don’t have a process in place at the beginning in order to make the whole situation easier.
😈 Crossed-wires: We aren’t getting the appropriate buy-in from others, so we face some harsh realities once we’ve already put in extensive time and effort. This strains relationships.
😈 Misunderstanding: We aren’t aware of the time something will actually take, so we blame ourselves for not being able to magically pull of a huge project alone.
What typically happens.
You see your organization needs to change. So many problems and disconnections that you can resolve. In a fit of inspiration, you pull together The Big Solution and present to your boss.
From your point of view, it seems like a simple fix if you just added a new tool and reworked a few meetings!
She doesn’t seem to buy in or have much interest. Or maybe she asks a few too many questions that seem to be tearing down your Big Idea. Or maybe your manager just seemed neutral, and you aren’t sure it’s worth any additional effort.
At that point, it feels easier to throw it all away. Your effort was pointless. No use trying to change anything around here. You had a bad meeting and obviously, you’re an idiot. What a waste of time. Pure hell.
✨ Wait! You may have a fantastic solution planned! ✨
But others don’t see what you see. They aren’t in your brain. They don’t have your experience. They weren't with you when the BIG IDEA struck. And, it’s going to take time to bring them along.
Adjust your timeline to include sharing context with others
Help stakeholders understand the problem you are seeing
Help them understand the benefit of solving the problem now
Get their buy in that this needs to be resolved now by confirming it’s not only a problem but a priority
Share your solution - step by step - in a way that allows them to say “yes” to hear more; or start a small test or implement your suggestions
Now, Are you willing to go to Step One and repeat with other stakeholders?
And THEN...
👉🏼 Keep stakeholders updated consistently with progress, success, risks and asks for approval along the way.
👉🏼 Once this is complete, do you have a plan to rollout your solution and socialize it to integrate new practices or policies? This includes new conversations, trainings, gathering feedback and tracking success you hoped to achieve.
We expect everyone to see it our way, see and agree with our solutions and move at our expected speed. When that doesn’t happen, we can get quickly discouraged and blame ourselves. Again and again I see this very specific hell of not giving our great ideas enough time to bloom.
Sometimes you have a great idea at the wrong time. Sometimes there are other priorities. Sometimes you start, and priorities change. That’s the breaks, kid.
Can you hold your idea like seeds planted that need care, attention, soil preparation, water…all before you ever see evidence of life? In our creative explosions of inspiration, we might imagine something so completely but forget the pre-prep, the prep, the care and the attention needed to get through.
RETHINK - THIS FRIDAY! AUG 16!
👉🏼 Join us! 👈🏼
Celebrating 4 years teaching and facilitating with RETHINK. It’s a fabulous community with many resources, classes, and support. Currently, I’m offering a monthly group to coach and help you connect with peers and build your professional network. Unpack challenges, learn new skills and hear what others in the industry are facing.