Deadlines Belong in the Obituary

Another epiphany hit me this morning when I woke up besides the fact that I really wanted more coffee.  I got to thinking about all the projects I have on my plate and also the list that each of my team members have in anticipation of future events.  The word “deadline” was the associative word of the moment.  Then it kind of struck me how really that is such an awful word.  I tweeted it out, put it on my Facebook page and I had people agree with me.

The next step was to find out where this word came from.  So here is what I found.  According to the Online Etymology Dictionary the words history comes from the civil war era where prisoners were warned that if they crossed a literal line they would be shot.  Chew on that for a moment then continue to the next paragraph.

So now that we know this it behooves us to ask ourselves the question: “Why do I use this word as a daily business term in order to set a time limit on a project?”

The word screams negativity!  It has the word “DEAD” in it.  I thought to myself all the times I put myself on a deadline or was given a deadline or realized my deadline was in just a few hours and every time I recited the word in my head or remembered those moments the only feeling that I experienced was….fear.

The property management industry is project oriented.  Multifamily professionals across the board are working hard each day to improve their business profile.  Is there not a better word we can use for our teams to signal a completion time frame?

We are required to inspire our team not scare them.  So I now I put this out to you.  Am I in left field with the crows and cornstalks on this post?  What kind of lingo do you use to help your team see their projects through to completion?  I look forward to your comments.

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Written by Jonathan Saar