When Your Words MUST Count
Quick question, y’all.
When you assure someone that what you say will happen is actually going to happen – does it make you a bit nervous? I mean, no matter how confident you feel, sooner or later you’re going to have to, y’know, face the music, right?
So when your confidence level prompts you to make a commitment (sound of terrified scream), does it still give you cold sweats? Perhaps a serious case of the heebie-jeebies? Yup; thought so.
But y’know; some situations require nothing less than absolute and total confidence; to state the case in no uncertain terms; to respond to a challenge with supreme fearlessness; to spit in the eye, so to speak, of the oncoming torpedo, y’know?
Give the Man a Chance
Speakin’ of torpedoes – and bein’ a guy and all – that kind of situation inevitably reminds me of a rather poignant moment from one of my favorite “guy” movies of all time, The Hunt for Red October.
The scene I’m thinkin’ of is where our intrepid hero, Jack Ryan, tries to convince the captain of the submarine USS Dallas that the captain of the Russian submarine he is closely shadowing (the Red October) actually wants to defect to the U.S.
(Now bear two things in mind; the American Captain has orders to sink the Red October, and up until this particular moment, the Russians have no idea they were being so closely tailed.)
It’s an edgy scene, to say the least. In the narrow confines of a submarine corridor, they tensely face off against each other – the Captain, because he thinks Ryan is out of his gourd for suggesting such a thing, and Ryan, supremely confident because of his own analysis of the Russian’s motivations (and because he’s the hero of this tale – and he’s never wrong).
Ryan realizes he only has one chance to make his case before being hauled off to the brig.
He finally plays his trump card by claiming he knows the Russian Captain so well he can actually predict the man’s every move – and that his next turn (called a “Crazy Ivan” in submariner’s lingo) will be to starboard. (That’s “to the right” for you landlubbers out there – and if you’re one of those who, like Mrs. MZM, can’t tell your right hand from your left, then please, move over and let ME drive!)
Suddenly, the intercom sounds…
Intercom: Conn, Sonar. Signal to noise ratio’s dropping. Possible aspect change in target. Possible target zig based on bearing rate.
Intercom: Conn, Sonar. Crazy Ivan! Captain. Captain, he’s turning!
Captain: Which way is he turning?
Intercom: To the starboard, sir.
Captain turns sharply to Ryan.
Ryan: Give the man a chance.
Captain (coming to a sudden decision): All back full.
Intercom: Captain, say again.
Captain: I said all back full!
Intercom: Back full. Aye, sir. Engines back full.
The submarine fills with noise as the propeller reverses, bringing the submarine to a sudden and noisy stop.
Intercom: We’re cavitating! He can hear us!
Captain: Conn, aye. All stop.
Intercom: All stop, aye.
Captain (smiling wryly at Ryan): All right, Mr. Ryan; we just unzipped our fly.
Here’s the thing…
At a previous job, our client once asked me to create a big poster listing 10 to 15 critical milestones for the project I’m working on. Now, ordinarily, that’s no big deal; we always had a detailed project schedule with that information available at the drop of a hat (but not my hat, mind you; that would be, y’know, wrong).
But still; there’s something about putting those milestones on a big, honkin’ poster and putting’ it up there for all to see, y’know? In a way, it’s kinda like making a list of your New Year’s resolutions – then publishing it on the front page of the New York Times. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like so much more of a, y’know, commitment that way.
Now, though, if we missed a date, it’s *ulp* right there on the wall for all to see (I could already feel little drops of sweat forming on my troubled brow…). After all, as any experienced project manager will tell you, a schedule is simply a battle plan. (And I emphasize the word plan.)
Oh, sure; we do our best to execute the plan (and no, I don’t mean – much as you’d like to – stand it against a wall, tie a blindfold on it and blow it to Kingdom Come). But still, there’s always, y’know, reality to deal with. As Field Marshall Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke (a bonecrusher of a name if there ever was one) once pointed out, “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.”
Hey, I understand perfectly. The very idea of “puttin’ feets to them words”, if you get my meanin’, can make even the most confident person on Earth tremble a bit inside. Especially when there’s a fair to middlin’ chance that factors outside your control might be at work at play.
But as I said back at the beginning of this little essay, sometimes the situation requires nothing less.
So What About It?
When was the last time you had to make one of those “everything-rests-on-this” type of commitments? What brought it up? What was the result? Do you dare to share a little about it here? C’mon, go ahead; we’re all friends here. (Besides, I need some new blog material. - KIDDING!)
_____________________________
26 responses so far
Middle Zone Musings is a comfortable place to stop, have a cup of coffee, swap a few stories and share practical ideas for the real world. I don't ask for much, just a bit of your brain every now and then. Have a seat, take a load off, and relax...
“Verify our range to target, one ping only”
Robert one of my fav movies of all time. I can’t pass it up on the guide. Even though I own it on DVD I have to sit and watch.
A number of years ago I worked at FedEx in the customs support section of the Anchorage facility. We worked files for customers who had shipments tagged by customs as needing additional paperwork – Dontcha know THOSE were fun phone calls to make!
Anyway, each day we would get additional files, and the goal was to try and close as many as possible.
Following the FISH model, We put a board up and keep track of the number of closed files for each of us. We made a game out of it, but you could sure tell who was doing their part!
It was a fun experience, and about the only part of the job that made coming to work tolerable.
Cheers!
George
Tumblemooses last blog post..Your writing is killing your writing
This is an easy one for me. It was taking two quarters out my junior year to go to Stanford-in-Germany without changing my major to something easier than physics. It meant I committed myself to taking nothing but physics and math courses my senior year. It was a hard year, but I remember it as happy and I ended up graduating with honors. I remember the time in Europe even more. I agree with the motto, “Life is uncertain, so eat dessert first.”
Jean Browman–Cheerful Monks last blog post..My New Role Model
I squirm with you, Robert. Explicit commitments make me nervous! I think it’s because I take them very seriously. Once something is down in black or white or even stated out loud, it becomes a writ-in-stone obligation for me. Maybe this is why I need deadlines in my life. Without them I wander; with them I accomplish–usually anyway. I suppose distinguishing between deadlines and commitments draws an unnecessarily fine line, but because deadlines are imposed, I live with them more lightly than a commitment that comes from me.
Terros last blog post..Brilliant Sheep!
One great behavior-modification tool is to make a commitment to friends/the world. It holds one accountable. I notice that some people are doing that in their blogs now.
Now my commitments tend to be more about living my values, so they have built-in flexibility and allow plenty of room for learning new things and for personal growth. When I was working I would sometimes volunteer for challenging assignments, i.e., problems I didn’t know how to solve ahead of time. Yes, it was sometimes hard on the nerves, but my mantra was, “I’d rather be scared than bored.” That helped a lot. And I learned to slip into a state of curiosity and play around with ideas, forgetting all about deadlines. Usually a solution would come in time to implement it before the deadline.
One thing was certain, I never procrastinated. Hey, I worked with computers. I knew all too well that they could crash at the most inopportune times.
Thanks for bringing back some fond memories.
Jean Browman–Cheerful Monks last blog post..My New Role Model
Robert, my stomach is clenching and beads of sweat have formed on my forehead after reading that post! You really did capture that moment of truth so to speak very well. On a small scale this happens in my work with clients but another incident springs to mind. At the end of October I announced to the world that I would participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNo). I had never written a novel, wasn’t sure how to even go about it but I sort of had to do it once I said I would. Putting it out there kept me motivated every day to focus on the end goal. I wanted to finish for me but the public announcement definitely did not hurt! I finished and was happy to be able to announce that too, whew!
Karen Swims last blog post..The Enemy of Creativity
@Tumblemoose – Yeah, there’s something about puttin’ it up there for all to see… Sure motivates you to perform, doesn’t it? Efficiency experts have known that since before Gailbraith showed up on the scene. It helps when you can make a game out it, though.
@Jean – I like your motto, Jean; it’s close to mine: “Always start with pie!”
Anyhoo -
Yup; the “accountability group” model is another useful method for getting things done you’d probably not do if left to yourself. ‘Course, you have to actually, y’know, DO it, right?
@Terro – I think I see what you mean, Terro. Maybe it’s the word, “commitment” (sound of terrified scream) that causes us to hold back from making one. For me, though, the commitment is easy – but without a deadline, it’s not really going to make me actually get to it, y’know? I need both.
@Karen – I remember your agony and ecstasy last November! But at the saem time you had a big group of us cheering you on.
So… now the Moment of Truth: When do we get to read it?
Great post. I must have things in writing for me to accomplish them, especially my long term goas. But it cannot be a piece of paper…must be BIG and posted on the wall. Otherwise, I might just take it down if it goes unaccomplished. PS: I love that scene in Hunt for Red October too. My other favorite line from hunt: “Tonight, gentlemen, we sail into history.”
@Richard – I know what you mean, Richard. Sometimes it’s just too easy to sorta “forget” about ‘em unless they’re up there for all to see. Yup; know exactly what ya mean!
Hey, thanks for dropping by, Bubba!
my calculus professor always incorporates his hunt for red october stories in his lectures when i was in college!
I use a white board and each month write my commitments. This way I can erase them when the commitment is over. You know what I mean? : )
@Sam – Hey, his name wasn’t, uh, “Ryan”, by any chance?
@Josh – Very effective. But does anyone else see it besides you? It’s real easy to get rid of the evidence with a white board, y’know…
Well, as everything lately is about 168, moviemaking within a time frame is very much a plan and stick to the plan type deal thing. Twenty seven members of cast and crew counting on me to create a shooting schedule, and then stick to it, much to the chagrin of those looking over my shoulder every step of the way. Was able to come in on time and almost under budget, and even turned in the finished piece almost a day early. Didn’t really get only two shots that I wanted, but it didn’t hurt the project in any meaningful way.
That was the last week of February. Then the opportunity to enter a recut version of the film into another contest came up, and I basically went through the post production process again, in order to get a seven minute version of the film submitted in time two weeks later. Was successful in that attempt as well
Good for you, Mike! Glad to know you’re able to set a plan and hit it! Not that many folks can, you know.
I think I’m the type of people that doing all the tasks according to the schedule, Robert. Hence, I recorded all my commitments and schedules in my mobile phone. I also setting up the alarm to remind me as well!
@Wilson – That works fine, Wilson – as long as you remember to get the dates in there in the first place, right? But still, it’s not quite the same when you’re the only one who knows about your deadlines.
Heh. You have named one of my favorite movies of all time here. (Others: “Crimson Tide” and “U571″ – sensing a theme here?)
But you left out the best part of this exchange. It’s later, when the captain asks Ryan how he knew the Russian captain would go to starboard. Ryan admits: he didn’t. He took a chance. He had a 50/50 shot of getting it right.
Sometimes, you gotta fake it til you make it.
@Sherrie – You obviously have a thing for underwater adventures, Sherrie. Hey, that’s OK, we don’t judge here.
Although… I think you did capture the nub of the gist of it – a lot of our success is in how we act until success finally catches up to us, don’cha think?
A nice article you have here, Robert! And a good read too.
Being a telephone sales person by ‘trade’ I’ve very often had to make such a commitment: “So, how many sales today, Matt?” *Gulp* Especially if I’d had a late night or ridiculously early morning and was nowhere near the ‘top of my game.’
I’d give the estimate (read wild, random guess) and up on the whiteboard it would go. Whew! Need to work now!
But never a day went by when my target wasn’t reached… I think in some ways that giving that solidified, public commitment can certainly work as a great motivator and reason to actually do what is said. After all, no one likes the shame of not being able to do what you’ve said. Especially, in my case, in an office where all 20-30 staff heard you say you’d be able to sell x amount.
But yes, it still makes me somewhat nervous in all situations. It’s more than worth it though to get that extra motivation and drive.
Matt
@Matt – You’re a telephone sales guy? Man, you’re braver than I am! I hate talkin’ to folks on the phone – no eye contact. I’ve always felt I could “sell” anything I truly believed in, but I prefer to do it face-to-face.
But there’s a great madness in y’all’s method there – certainly is a motivator when all the world sees it up there in black and white, ain’t it?
Definitely, Robert!
And yeah, I’ve been doing it now for nigh on six years. Luckily for me, I’m good and can sell anything!
But first thing in the morning, you’re feeling groggy and want just to crawl back into bed that question is one that fills the soul with dread.
It’s surprising the difference in office performance, though. I’ve been in offices that have a board and ones that don’t. I’ll not insult your intelligence by telling you which always performs better.
And, I have to say I love the conversational style of your blog writing. It’s almost like I can hear your voice when I read your stuff!
Matt
@Matt – Hey, I appreciate compliment, and a hat tip to ya, Bubba!
So, you can sell anything, eh? Well, I have this idea…
[...] to the writing of my novella. This was bothering me a little bit, until I was reminded about this post by Robert [...]