Over Come By Events
Sometimes we take on too much. I've talked about taking a break and about meeting objectives. I've even talked about commitment. But what happens when it is physically impossible to meet an objective -- when you are over come by events.
You need to reset your commitment, and you need to do so publicly and firmly.
Over the last 40 years I don't know how many times I've had to appeal to someone else's grace because I've failed to deliver something on time. From homework assignments in school to project deliverables or time-sheets. There are any number of things I've failed to deliver on time.
I think I've mentioned, I'm an early-is-on-time, on-time-is-too-late kinda guy. I hate being late. I will burn the candle at both ends to be on-time. Even with that attitude there are times where the laws of physics get in the way.
So, when I find that I'm not going to make a commitment, as soon as I know, I contact the person I've made a commitment to and let them know. I then recommit and get back to it.
Simple examples of this are, I'm going to be late to a meeting. I call the organizer and tell them when I will be there. I'm not going to finish my story card by the end of sprint, I contact my tech-lead and product owner and inform them of when I will be finished. A deploy is not going to get delivered on time. I contact my Delivery Lead and Product Owner and inform them of when it will happen.
It is a terrible feeling to not get something done when you've made a commitment. That said, it is inevitable that you will fail at some point in your career. So when that happens, you have to buck-up and let the person you committed to know that you are aware of the issue and then recommit to them when you will complete the work.
You need to reset your commitment, and you need to do so publicly and firmly.
Over the last 40 years I don't know how many times I've had to appeal to someone else's grace because I've failed to deliver something on time. From homework assignments in school to project deliverables or time-sheets. There are any number of things I've failed to deliver on time.
I think I've mentioned, I'm an early-is-on-time, on-time-is-too-late kinda guy. I hate being late. I will burn the candle at both ends to be on-time. Even with that attitude there are times where the laws of physics get in the way.
So, when I find that I'm not going to make a commitment, as soon as I know, I contact the person I've made a commitment to and let them know. I then recommit and get back to it.
Simple examples of this are, I'm going to be late to a meeting. I call the organizer and tell them when I will be there. I'm not going to finish my story card by the end of sprint, I contact my tech-lead and product owner and inform them of when I will be finished. A deploy is not going to get delivered on time. I contact my Delivery Lead and Product Owner and inform them of when it will happen.
It is a terrible feeling to not get something done when you've made a commitment. That said, it is inevitable that you will fail at some point in your career. So when that happens, you have to buck-up and let the person you committed to know that you are aware of the issue and then recommit to them when you will complete the work.
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