How Do You Respond When Asked For The Impossible?
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on May 16, 2013
Many years ago I was in a very interesting spot. I was still a regular employee and there was a time crunch on something that was out of my control for a long time. When I finally had the opportunity to really do something I was told that I had to have the problem solved in 2 weeks.
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There was no way it could be solved in 2 weeks and I told the person I reported to that very thing. He said he was getting pressure and that he was going to put the pressure on me to get it done. He said there would be no excuses, even though he knew that I had never told him something couldn't be done before.
How would you have responded?
I sat there for a few seconds thinking about this. I'd been frustrated for months because the powers that be had treated us like hated stepchildren who didn't matter at all in their lives. I'm as loyal as anyone you'd ever meet but loyalty is a two-way street; I've always written that type of thing on this blog.
I hadn't even been considered for a promotion to the top job in the big city, even though my qualifications and numbers spoke volumes, I'd been handling multiple jobs and I was the highest ranking person in the organization at the time for that job. Not only that but the year before I hadn't been given the raise I deserved because I'd been told that being above expectations was what was expected of me and that since I had achieved that it was average for me, thus no raise; yeah, right.
I said "If I just up and quit now, walk back to the office, pack my things and go home, do you think you'll get this done in 2 weeks? Do you think they'll give you a break because I'm not here any longer?"
Now he had to think about things for a bit. I knew he was feeling a lot of pressure as well and that he was probably in more trouble than me. In the city they had lots of people and consultants to attack their issues; he only had me. And they'd been looking for a reason to take over our little outlying area and, to date, the only thing holding them off was that my department's performance was much superior to theirs.
He blinked first; I knew he would. He asked that if I could have 4 weeks and any resources whatsoever could I get it done. I told him I needed until the next morning to think about it and consult with my supervisors before I told him our plan. Frankly, I didn't have a real plan at that moment because the initial news had caught me off guard; we'd been waiting for a resolution for 11 months at this point.
Of course my supervisors and I came up with a plan that involved unlimited overtime, part time personnel to handle certain tasks, and a lot of paper; don't ask. The thing is, I recognized that in some fashion the potential fiasco would be blamed on me for nondelivery, even after all my years of service, and that I was going to play my hand up front, knowing more about the issues than most people thought I knew. Sometimes you have to be willing to take a stand for yourself and your cause, especially if you've evaluated the situation enough to know your own value.
Would I have walked? Indeed! As some would say in a heartbeat, never threaten anything you're not ready follow through on. At that time I didn't own a home yet, had saved up a lot of money, and was a pretty hot commodity as I'd turned down 3 other jobs because I liked where I was. But things had been changing and I wasn't sure I trusted a lot of top suits who were promising something one day and changing it up the next. When people stop being honest... you know...
By the way, we got the project finished with 3 days to spare. 🙂
Back to my question; how would you have responded? Would you have been prepared enough to make a proper decision? Would you have calculated your own worth to make the right decision? What I did might not have been what you could have done but as the old Boy Scout motto warned, "Always Be Prepared". Let me know in the comments below.
Hi Mitch,
Interesting article and right on target given today’s economy with employment being a buyers market.
I have a house payment and three kids, so I don’t think I could afford to threaten resignation.
However, my current job entails a significant quantity of project management, so I think I would have to respond with something like:
“I understand your requirements. I have to take some time to analyze this project. I’ll get back to you tomorrow with a firm estimate on how long this project will take to proper completion. At that point, we can determine whether we must adjust the scope, schedule or cost. Then we can meet with the project sponsor and offer options for completing this project.”
That works well Mike. I have to say that at the time I was put on the spot I’d been feeling a lot of pressure in trying to come up with an idea, so offering up the resignation was kind of mentally freeing, let me know where I stood, and eventually helped me in the short run.
I really liked your response, but given my circumstances, I just couldn’t do it, because I couldn’t back it up.
Not a big deal Mike. Thing is, I’d thought about it ahead of time. Not everyone could have gotten away with it.
Great post, Mitch!
Yes, at the moment I would do the same and be ready to leave. I’m not sure I would’ve come up with the creative solution you did (kudos to you!). Respect is a two-way street and at a certain point staying in a bad job just isn’t worth all the stress. I’d want to be in a situation where the best was expected but also the environment would allow the best from everyone.
Thanks Carol and you’re exactly right. I’m not sure if I’ve written about the second part of this particular story so I think I’ll make that the next post. 🙂
Depends on many external factors, Mitch. As an employee in the past I have always been a soldier and do everything possible or impossible. In the past I was told by my boss that I have to work on 60 SEO projects – one man band and boss asked me that he expect top results. Times were different and I achieved success for around 42-44 project and the rest suffered. Honestly I didn’t think about that and I used to have a choice to walk away. In recent years, I didn’t had to think twice and just move on with something else. At present days, I don’t have much of a choice as I am taking care for my family and I am living abroad.
Carl, you work for yourself, so even though you have to take care of your family, you still have choices that others don’t have. Still, when you were asked to do the impossible you did it, which means it wasn’t impossible just improbable.