July 14, 2008 - PPM - I Want It NOW

This week’s PET PEEVE MONDAY (PPM) is about the people that continually state that there is no reason to drill for oil because it will be TEN YEARS before we get any production from those wells.

This week’s PEEVE concerns people that DO NOT ATTEMPT TASKS because of the potential time delay before the desired results are achieved.

What if there were no Surgeons because it takes 14 years of post-high school education and training?

What if Michelangelo had refused to paint the Sistine Chapel because it was going to take 33 years and require more than one coat of paint?

What if no one had children, because it takes 5-6 years before they say anything of consequence?

There is an old Project Management axiom, that one woman can have a baby in nine months, but nine women working together can not have produce a baby in one month.

People. Sometimes things take time. Thomas Edison tried 3000 different theories before inventing the incandescent light bulb. What if he had quit because it too hard?

We’ve become a society, desirous of quick fixes.

We want microwave dinner and instant coffee.

We want to take a pill to cure any and all of our ailments

We want quick, no-fault divorces. “No Fault”, come on, someone screwed up.

Life's not about not reading the book and buying the CliffsNotes in order to pass the test.

People were saying in 1996 that any drilling in the ANWR (Alaska National Wildlife Preserve) area would be pointless because it would take 10 years before we would have any additional domestic oil production. Well it is now 12 years later and we are in a worse position due to increased demand and reduced supply.

Who knows? Had Clinton not vetoed the ANWR drilling bill in 1996, gas prices would be definitely lower in 2008. Bush’s popularity would be, … OK, it would still be bad.

At any rate, we need be less lazy and more motivated. We need to be less intimidated by the possible time investment and consider the enormous impact of achieving the desired result.

Good, no GREAT things, come to those that work for it.