Hi Reader,
🎵“Have patience, have patience. Don’t be in such a hurry. When you’re impatient, it only causes worry.”🎵
Herbert the Snail song
This little song, written by Frank Hernandez and Sherry Powell, was a favourite in my kid’s second grade classroom. Their teacher would sing it as the class lined up to go somewhere, and it was cute to watch them all sing along.
I continued to sing this song to my kids as they got older. By the teenage years I got an inevitable eye roll, but it still managed to bring out a smile.
Impatient people
I’ve been travelling most of this past month across two countries, and everywhere I went I saw impatient people. This in itself is not surprising, since travel can be frustrating for all of us. But it seemed like more than usual levels of impatience going on.
One moment really stood out. In a coffee shop, a person strode up to the counter and immediately began loudly tapping their car keys while repeating “Café! Café!” until someone helped them. The staff were swamped, and many of us were already waiting at the counter for our orders.
What made it even more striking was that this person was already holding a cup of coffee that looked almost full. They were clearly in a hurry, although it was hard to understand why they needed a rush to top off their cup.
At another point during my travels, I was driving on a quiet street just a little bit under the speed limit as I watched for my turn. Suddenly the one lone car behind me leaned on the horn as if I had done something wildly illegal.
They sped past me, still honking, clearly determined to make sure I knew driving under the speed limit was unacceptable to them. A few lights later, I caught up to them, where they sat waiting at a red light, looking just as frustrated as before.
Why the rush? Was it really worth the extra stress just to top off a coffee or arrive a little sooner?
Patience in projects
Just as we encounter impatience while travelling, we see it in projects too. It usually comes from a good place. People want progress, outcomes, and things checked off the list. I can relate, as I tend to be very action oriented myself and feel impatient when timelines slip.
During my travels this past month, which were centred around family health care, I spent a lot of time in hospitals and clinics. In every setting, I saw health care providers working with steady focus and incredible patience, even while caring for people who were, at times, anything but patient themselves.
The pace was steady, focused, and intentional where health care providers managed long lines and complex needs. Even so, the work that mattered was never rushed. It moved forward with care.
Projects are not so different and can be moved forward with patience. Push too hard for speed, and progress starts to sound more like noise. Conversations get cut short, work gets redone, and teams can find themselves right back where they started, like the driver racing ahead only to stop at the same red light.
The moral of the story is, if at any point over the next few weeks you find yourself behind a creeping snail, take a lesson from Herbert the Snail, and have patience.🎵
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Barbara Kephart, PMP
Founder and Chief Project Officer
Projects Pivot
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