I Will Do it Myself if It is Done

There are so very many things we can choose to convince or pay others to do for us. The title of this post, "I will do it myself if it is done" sounds like the mantra of a control freak. However, it was prompted as I interacted with a CEO of a large publicly traded company on election day.  With thousands of people working for him, he has the opportunity and responsibility to delegate to others.  I was struck, however, by his encouragement to others to exercise their right to vote, with his story of
standing in line to vote early.  Though he did not voice it, I immediately realized that this, and many more important tasks, cannot be delegated to others, regardless of our role or status.

There are very many important things that we must personally do, if they are to be done, including casting our vote.  I'd never thought that discretely about voting as being an activity that the highest and lowest paid individual within an organization must do themselves, if it is to be done.

Lab tests, academic exams, hugs & kisses, photographs and original signatures are other examples of things we must do ourselves if they are to be done as intended. 

Recognizing that there are many truly personal responsibilities provides another common human denominator.  Though we all have different advantages and disadvantages, none of us can delegate a good night's sleep, firm handshake or personal appearance.

What Does Somebody Look Like?

It's easy to say "somebody should do..."  Until we give somebody a name, identity, authority, support and responsibility it is unlikely that anybody will follow through.  If something is important enough to be done we need to become or identify the somebody who will do it.

Unmet Expectations

I'm a big believer that deadlines motivate behavior. We are all busy and have great intentions of completing those "nice to do things" on our list. But days turn into weeks and new, time sensitive items get added to our already full days so those "do it sometime" items still stick around undone.

That's what often happens, too, when we ask for a service provider to perform a job without specifically voicing a requirement that the task be completed by a certain date. We think that since we are being nice and accommodating, they will certainly handle our request in a most timely manner. After all, we're flexibly sensitive to their workload. And we're not being demanding, unreasonable jerks, so surely they will want to assist us. Yes, they do want to assist us. But since we are so flexible and all those other demanding customers have been promised specific due dates that must be met, our request lingers longer than we think necessary on the "do it when it's convenient" list.

I've discovered that I can be nice and accommodating but get my needs met by politely negotiating a mutually acceptable due date as the request is made. If my desire to have the project completed in a week isn't possible, I have two options. I can accept the due date that provider is able to fulfill or I can find an alternate provider.

Unvoiced expectations are those that are least likely to be met.