Urgency is poisonous?
37signals.com
37signals.com
A lot of people seem to be misinterpreting the post and are assuming 37signals are promoting sloth, inactivity or doing things more slowly. As a company that releases products and new features on a pretty regular basis, 37signals should not be accused of this.
Instead, the post is actually highlighting the problems caused by "urgency." Urgency can be a massive problem because most non-emergency matters of urgency are bred by laziness. This is because people have asked for tasks to be done by a reasonable deadline in the past, but then the job hasn't been done due to laziness. So.. the next time the person asks, they make the job look "urgent" to force it to be done on time. After several cycles of this, almost everything becomes "urgent".
Consider the way many people complain about and at corporations. Their anger and demands are way out of line with what happened to them (some bad service, maybe) but most consumers know that most big companies simply won't listen unless you make a disproportionate amount of fuss.
This is the sort of urgency that is very harmful to SMALL companies and freelancers. It's those clients and customers who claim every tiny job or feature is URGENT when, in fact, it's not at all. Those clients are the ones that cause stress and the ones that will ultimately give you a heart attack.
There is a two way relationship needed with compromise on each side. The clients / users / customers need to be reminded that only emergencies are urgent, but your compromise is that if you promise something then MAKE SURE YOU FULFILL IT! I'm sick of how many supposedly "reliable" people don't live up to their promises.. yet we're supposedly meant to accept this nowadays. Well, I won't, and I'm with 37signals on this one. Ditch urgency, live up to promises, and it'll all go a lot smoother and with less stress.
Fulfilling promises is about as much about which ones you make than what you do to make them happen once they're made.
"Your failure to plan, does not constitute my emergency."
However, maintaining that constant high rate of speed is what contributes to burn out.
It's like getting onto the highway's on-ramp and staying in 3rd gear until you hit 70 mph; it's really easy to get up to that speed, but staying there (at least in third gear), can cause a seriously thrashed engine quite quickly.
Couldn't help but throw in an automotive metaphor.
In other areas of my life, having a sense of urgency helps me get things done in a timely manner - like doing grocery shopping or running errands.
I think that urgency artificially introduces stress to the task - which may be beneficial in certain scenarios.
Knowing (with fair warning) that something is going to be late lets me set the right expectations. With a month to go I can usually persuade a customer to slip a week because something just needs needs more time. I can also reconsider my time estimates for future jobs to make sure that in future the engineers get the time they need.
What I can't do is keep promising delivery "tomorrow" to external people, because I just found out today that you won't be done on time. That's bad for everyone.
It works great for all involved: I get to do quality work I'm happy with, and they always understand where their time goes. I admit it doesn't work with all PMs: some will try to mandate a due date. I'm really lucky to have a boss who'll help me push back, to explain that wanting things more doesn't make them go much faster. And I'm doubly lucky to have a boss who's right when he (very infrequently) has me work overtime to get something that's actually urgent done.
I find stress much less motivational than the pride in doing things well.
They've tried an experiment and they're reporting that they're pleased with the results. They haven't controlled for the Hawthorne Effect, but there's no reason to without empiricism. Heck, sometimes it's better to just use the Hawthorne Effect itself to improve social environments.
What it really is though is unpolitic. Especially in the USA, suggesting that something can wait, or that the morale boost from working less will end up in more productivity angers a lot of people.
"They're out of their minds! They suggest that it can wait and the morale boost from working less will end up in more productivity... Blasphemy! They're just lazy! I've worked 90 hours a week for 7 years, and because of that I'm ill and borderline insane, but IT'S WORTH IT, I'M PRODUCTIVE!!! Sure, I'm chronically stressed and made 3 burn-outs, but I get stuff DONE. Those no-goods can't understand what it's like. They don't understand what sacrifice means! Grumble."
That being said, this doesn't mean Americans aren't the most productive overall, since Americans do work insanely long hours compared to Europeans.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/22/messages/411.htm...
I wish I could find the study I read last year that found only about 20% of hours spent at work by a typical worker are productive, but I'll have to settle for this: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/31/fashion/31work.html
Working fewer hours does not mean you do less work. Indeed, the improvement in efficiency can mean you ultimately produce more. It's like if you drive a car at 100mph everywhere, you'll use more gas per mile than driving at 55mph (indeed, this was why that limit was set).
(Update: Heh, just noticed someone else used an automotive metaphor above!)
Urgency = putting out fires Importance = creating value