Have you ever had “Just get it to me whenever you can” turn into “Why haven’t you finished that yet!?!”?
Both the requestor and the producer are complicit in this failure of agreement.
The former needs to provide a clear deadline, even if it’s a best guess, and the producer needs to request one before agreeing to the work.
The deceptively simple give and take of our daily interactions hinge on the clarity of our expectations, those guidelines within which we can plan for our mutual success.
DAVID BERRY is the author of “A More Daring Life: Finding Voice at the Crossroads of Change” and the founder of RULE13 Learning. He speaks and writes about the complexity of leading in a changing world.
