adminAt times he is rewarded handsomely if on that particular day his delayed action coincides with bass major feeding hour.
Presumably Muzipaz always tells himself that “let me relax a little bit in the morning. It is not urgent to fish in morning. I will fish later at the right time. Moreover it is not urgent to fish in morning, good time for fishing is towards dusk. Let me reserve my energy for towards dusk action”.
However, in summer, rains normally interrupt his game because rains fall 1600 hours into the evening. Consequently he fails to fish at “right time”.
As a result of his procrastination Muzipaz always finds himself on the receiving end. He losses most of the competitions he enters in. An attempt to establish the real reasons for this persistent negative behaviour in Muzipaz is revealing. He argues that every time he goes to the dam he finds himself playing in the morning for one reason or another. He struggles to put urgency into his game. He waits towards the end of the day to rediscover his zeal and purpose.
Both negative and positive habits are contagious. An enquiry into the behavioural patterns of Muzipaz established that his habits developed just like the development path of “a small mustard seed” which at the beginning is tiny but grows to become a very large tree. Procrastination starts like a mustard seed which grows to be a very big problem. The cost of procrastination becomes high if the habit is allowed to grow.
This points to the fact that some of the negative behaviours that persistently nag us grew slowly without being corrected until they became our natural behavioural tendencies.
Once a negative behaviour has been identified, it must be nabbed at its bud. Once it develops it might become normal and easy to justify its existence despite being costly to an individual.
Muzipaz justifies his procrastination by saying “hove huru dzinodyira kana kwadoka” (big bass fish bites at dusk). Though he lost so many matches by waiting for the last meet, this behaviour is now deep-rooted in him. He is a slave to his habits. Most of the activities that we indulge in end up enslaving us. Though he losses most of the matches, he does not seem to have a solution on how he can improve his performance by doing things right away.
One of the most famous clubs in Europe, Manchester United used to leave it to the injury time to pounce on their opponents. A case in point is their famous victory against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League final in 1999 and many others.
It worked for some time until some of their opponents mastered the art of defending against Manchester United during the injury time which has significantly reduced its winning streak in these dying minutes. Resultantly Sir Alex Ferguson is sometimes complaining about how referees are not awarding adequate injury time as if 90 minutes is not good enough to conclude a match.
Forms of procrastination
Paralysis of analysis
A common form of procrastination is what is now commonly referred to as “paralysis of analysis” which is a common disease among highly educated nations such as Zimbabwe. Management gurus emphasises the need to plan before one executes his or her work. Planning requires research and analysis of the findings in order to come up with recommendations which are acceptable, suitable and feasible. This process can take for ever to be completed which justifies inactivity.
Resultantly the managers miss deadlines on the pretext that they are still researching and analysing data.
In some instances the work becomes more of analysis instead of putting the analysed work into motion.
This must not be confused with the unwillingness to work, but analysis will end up taking precedent over work. Procrastination can manifest itself as continual planning with no execution. Most companies are pregnant with big ideas and big plans which never see the light of the day because the management of these companies will always be at the drawing board.
So long as analysing and synthesising work thoroughly will not result in action it is procrastination in disguise.
Risk averseness
Closely linked to paralysis of analysis is an extensive risk amelioration investigations, and endless due diligence which can be deliberately put in place to ensure the company calculates properly the risks it takes. This process can be so thorough and exhaustive such that by the time exercised is completed, the opportunity would have been lost.
Fear of failure syndrome
In some organisations the risk of getting it wrong can result in one’s ego being serious bruised or being fired.
Some companies can bad mouth you or reward you for taking the initiative even if it does not result in immediate positive results. If the company reaction to failure is too negative one can easily delay doing something until somebody else takes it up. The way the company reacts to failure can determine the willingness of its staff to take on tasks head on.
Changing goal posts
My friend narrated to me the frustrations he was encountering to seal a contract with a reputable bank in Zimbabwe.
The managing director of this bank will always ask him to do a proposal for the course in transformation.
Come the time of implementation he will be given an excuse such as the upcoming board meeting, the month end reports and the annual report. After some time he will be invited again for a meeting and the terms of reference will be changed to for instance leadership of teams.
He will repeat again the same process of doing the proposal and slightly different excuses will be offered for not doing the proposal. At time of writing I am told he has been invited for the fifth meeting and I have no doubt the terms of reference will be altered for the fifth time. Changing goal posts is also another form of procrastination. Every minute counts, therefore utilise every available minute that you have.
Do not leave anything to chance. Many people fail to accomplish their goals by waiting for a better time to execute.
Many people died without wills for wanting to wait for a good day when they would be in a good mood to execute their wills.
Feedback: The writer is managing consultant at CLC Training International.Email: [email protected]
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