Dying Minutes

There's a habit I've noticed among my team at the office that sometimes gets me upset. We have no sense of urgency and often wait for deadlines before we take necessary actions. Of course by that time the pressure is already on us to perform and we have little room for errors. Luckily we've gotten away with it most times.

I have addressed this on several occasions but it unfortunately feels like a deeply ingrained habit amongst team members. Sometimes I also search myself to see any normalcy in this line of action. It is of course rather strange to imagine this as basic human nature, but there is some truth in this line of thought. Usually we're quite relaxed and a sense of urgency is something that we cultivate purposefully rather than it coming naturally to us.

It is because the consequences are either not clear, or are delayed. If nothing impedes my teams performance when they are under pressure and they mostly deliver, then surely they could've delivered much earlier before the pressure got intense. I have never liked working under pressure and definitely prefer meeting up expectations before deadlines when possible.

The excuse that force of habit is a driver of this behaviour might hold some sway, but the more obvious truth is pure laziness. Many of us are like that unfortunately, and on some days so am I. The difference is that am often that way with my personal goals and rarely with corporate targets. Of course this in itself is a tragedy, and I'll rather have both, but because the personal goals appear to be of less consequence in the short term, it is often my justification.