Not long ago, I had a conversation with a friend about deadlines. We’d both had corporate careers, mine in financial services and his in media, where deadlines were considered serious things. We’d also both subsequently had nonprofit experiences, where deadlines tended to be a bit fuzzier.
I told him about a former colleague at a museum. This fellow was in charge of human resources and joined a discussion about someone who had missed a deadline yet again. His reply was “perhaps she didn’t understand it was a time-sensitive deadline.” I burst out laughing, thinking it was the funniest thing I’d heard in ages. So did my friend, when I told him the story.
The problem is that this colleague wasn’t trying to be funny. He truly didn’t even understand why it was a ridiculous comment. That was in stark contrast with my friend’s experience. He had been warned that “a deadline is a line you don’t cross, or you’re dead.”
One of the reasons I do solo exhibits is that I work well to deadlines, hustling to finish when I’m facing one. The other reason is that my paintings show really well together, filling a room with color. My recent exhibit at Ivy’s caused me to finish several smaller paintings I’d been playing with, and here’s one of them. This older woman in front of a gorgeous archway in ancient Rhodes struck me as beautifully resilient and worth capturing. From October 9-30, you can see it in an exhibit at the Guilford Art Center.
Thanks for the confirmation, Jonathan! I ran my consulting business the same way. Sadly, I’ve been dealing with a fellow lately for whom deadlines seem to be a foreign concept… Hence this post.
Well-done and congratulations. Well-said, as well. My annual report design success was probably more to do with my marketing “on-budget and on-time” then the work itself… I would have cracked up as well!
PS Looks like those old sources hanging around your site can get deleted now – all’s well with new functionality!