“I deal in real time.”
So went a prized and oft-repeated expression of my mentor, Steve Zegree.
Real time means I don’t cheat on how long things are going to take.
Real time means I don’t arrive late or leave early.
Real time means I don’t commit to a project and then fail to follow through, citing time.
Real time means I take the time to consider how long a project will take before I start.
Real time means I take the time to mark the milestones in a project. (“Today is your last chance to sing together in the month of April.”)
Real time means real time. And dealing in real time a woefully underdeveloped skill – how many people do you know who overcommit based on the number of hours in a day, double- and triple-booking themselves with commitments they can’t possibly complete, or else taking on too many projects and letting them fail.
It’s hard, dealing in real time. But it’s real.
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