Can I cut the line?

While standing in the airport queue at 4:30 AM this past week, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and as I turned back, a passenger just waded his way forward, shouting all the time that his flight’s boarding and assuming that we owed him the right of passage.

While here I was, having woken up at 3:15 AM and executing a series of well-planned activities to ensure that I reach the airport on time with sufficient buffer.

I am sure most of you have found yourselves in a similar situation and have wondered if the airline did just do the unthinkable and decided to depart sooner than scheduled. Highly unlikely, right?

Contrast this with an email I received recently from a firm in Japan requesting an important piece of information, but giving us a generous two weeks to respond!

How many times have you received emails with the words “urgent”, “critical”, “ASAP” or something more desperate? In general, as things stand today, the onus of responding immediately to such messages falls squarely on the recipient, but is there another way to look at it?

At our organisation, for example, I frequently and openly talk about the difference between “real” and “false” urgency. I encourage all our team members to analyse where an 'urgent' request comes from. Is it a result of an unforeseen event, or simply poor planning? If it's the latter, we must resist the false urgency. Instead, we have an opportunity to educate the sender on the benefits of working in a more planned and efficient manner.

I know this is easier said than done, as more often than not, such requests come from your bosses or your key customers, but if handled well (for example, by replying on priority, but informing them that going forward, you will appreciate a longer window to ensure your response is more thought-out and accurate), in my experience, they too slowly but surely start realizing the value in not demanding unreasonable deadlines.

If you are in a position of leadership, then I request that you do your utmost best to reduce the instances of “urgent” demands and let your team, your organisation, your vendors, and your customers flourish by letting us all do the one thing we are meant to be doing - generating deep, insightful value adding ideas, not from a place of urgency, but from a place of calmness and confidence.

Shoot to the top!