“We need it yesterday”

“Ha. Just kidding. But seriously, we need it no later than a week.” “Two weeks, max.” “We have a hard deadline in a month.” “We have to be live in two months.”

We’ve lost countless jobs because we wouldn’t commit to these sorts of deadlines. And almost every single one misses its target when the prospective client goes elsewhere, with a consultancy happy to lie about timelines.

But this post is no rant against those conmen consultants; such behaviour is rife in new markets and we professionals must take the rough with the smooth. It’s our challenge to set the standards of best practice.

Rather, this post is a plea to the impatient: please listen to someone who’s seen literally dozens of enthusiastic entrepreneurs make big compromises for deadlines, often only to miss them anyway. Quality takes time! You can’t cheat it. In the words of Edwin H. Chapin:

Impatience never commanded success.