We all have to work to deadlines.
But to some people getting something done
on time, is the thing.
They will do something as well as they can
up to a certain point – the deadline. Then it is finished.
They will not come back to it and try and
craft it. Improve it. Polish it. Perfect it. To them it is done. Once the
deadline is passed, their job is done.
The end product is good, but no love has
gone into it just a set numbers of hours. They are processors by another name.
They will quote you phrases like ‘the
deadline is looming’ They will not understand the idea sweating something, of
making it the best it can be. What
is really looming is another piece of ok work.
For them it’s better to be good and on time
than late and great.
David,
Just stumbled upon your blog and this post - the first I have read - is great.
It made me think about the difference between what I do and what my grandfather did. My grandfather was a french polisher and I admired the way he worked methodically to get the best possible result. Deadlines were less of a factor because the nature of wood meant that he never knew what he'd come across. He was a craftsman and his skill was held in high esteem. If he said he needed longer, he was given more time.
I work in design and print management, where deadlines are everything - my clients all want their marketing material or brochure or annual report delivered on-time, everytime. It means that creativity is stifled, that artistry is replaced by mechanisation, that everyone in the process lies to one another (to get that extra hour, extra half day) and the real result of this time pressure? We never, ever get to make things better. Sad really.
I will read more.
Posted by: Simon Freeman | 02/12/2010 at 03:28 PM