Dropping the ball

Sometimes, I drop the ball and under-deliver. It’s one of the most awkward and embarrassing aspects of my work – as a consultant, as a boss, as a parent, as a spouse.

When it happens, my impulse is to procrastinate. There’s usually a conversation that needs to happen that feels like it is going to be difficult, and so I put it off. Which only compounds the situation.

Dropping the Ball

In August and September, life on the home front accelerated ten-fold as Nikole and I tried to wrangle the challenges of her last month of pregnancy, Jack’s arrival home and all of the associated juggling that a first-grader and a newborn require.

Sleep evaporated, as did the number of hours available for work. Several Floricane projects went from boil to simmer to cold.

Getting each of those projects back on the rails required action – reaching out to a client, apologizing, explaining the circumstances, and asking what I could do to set things right.

Not surprisingly – as has almost always been the case in the past – every conversation ended on a positive note. And each of the derailed projects is moving forward.

There’s a simple lesson here, isn’t there?