Is there room for patience – yes.
Is it hard to maintain – yes.
I have been working at the office, only had one external customer call today, rare for me and I find myself being impatient on things that are due their proper time to come to fruition. Sometimes waiting for readiness is a killer for those that are waiting and sometimes it is a killer with those who are doing the action.
Action, Urgency Excellence is a way to keep your business moving forward as fast as possible, but sometimes things need to take their time at the costs associated. At Project X I am committed to patience and readiness – even if it kills me. Why is it important. It is often a sign that you are not in control and that is life. Many others have a say in what is going on and what may be important to you may not be to them.
I’m reminded of the poster with two vultures sitting on a branch. One says to the other, “Patience? Patience!? Patience my #*@ I’m going to kill something.”
The challenge is waiting for the right set of conditions to come along, when the stars align, so that everybody’s ready to proceed at the same time. Without having to resort killing something (or someone).
Readiness applies to everybody, not just clients. You need to take into account your readiness to wait. Another thing to consider is maybe figuring out what the client is ready to do may be different than what you are ready to do.
There are many factors that affect readiness. In an organization, management’s demands or the lack of demands is a very important factor. Also the person’s personnal priorities and ambitions, including yours, are important factors.
Tuning in to the person’s top priority is really key. Often our priorities get in the way.
Patience never killed anybody, only being a patient. Careful what you wish for.