March 8, 2022

Sprinting to the finish

If someone asks me, “Are you a hare or a tortoise?”, I answer tortoise, every time.

I’m a planner. I love working methodically, consistently, and therefore sustainably towards a goal. This gives me lots of time to do divergent thinking, and just as much for convergent thinking. I use consistent and transparent communication to make sure that anyone I’m collaborating with knows where I’m up to, what’s concerning me, any questions I have, and anything I need from them, when I need it, well before I need it. When I work in this way I can work efficiently and industrially when I need to – but still, deliver high-quality work and remain calm throughout.

I know others who work the opposite way – last minute, just-in-time, frantic. Tasks are completed the night before a deadline, or they are prioritised based on the last email that hit the inbox, or the last one they paid attention to. Some people love working this way because it can feel full of energy, fresh, ‘creative’, and full of sparks. Most workplaces operate like this, it seems, and they call themselves ‘fast-paced’.

The problem is when the tortoise and the hare try to work with one another. They can only change and adapt so much but, fundamentally, the approaches are different. If the hare cannot see the value in the tortoise’s approach, any collaboration is headed for failure.

Sprinting to the finish has and, I dare say, never will be fun for me. And so, there are only two options. The first is to continue working with hares and end up tired, frazzled, and frustrated. The second is to just find other tortoises.

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