Many people fail either in business or career not for lack of ability but because they have fallen victim of student syndrome.
The syndrome was made popular by Eliyahu Goldratt in his 1977 book, Critical Chain. Goldratt, relying on research findings, says that many people will not apply themselves to a task until the deadline is very close. Thus, any buffer built into the task duration estimates turns out to be a waste because the delay in commencement of the task will have eroded the benefit of the buffer.
Explaining why this form of procrastination is called the student syndrome, Goldratt says if a group of students goes to a lecturer with a request for an extension of the deadline for the submission of an assignment, their excuse will be that with the additional time they will be able to come up with a better output. Goldratt says that however, in reality, most students will have other tasks or events place a demand on the time they intended to commit to improving their project. According to him, the students will often end up close to the same situation they started with, wishing they had more time as the new deadline approaches. It is obvious that the project can’t have a touch of excellence. That is why student syndrome is a problem; it robs its victims of the opportunity of coming out with outstanding performance.
This happens to students and non-students alike. It is one major reason individuals and organizations fail. Many employees have had their career growth stunted because each time they are assigned a special task, they don’t get down to working on it until the deadline is very close. They get the job done quite all right but they don’t get it quite right. More often than not, the task will be shoddily executed.
Anybody can do a task anyhow but it takes an employee who is painstaking, who has not subjected himself to the student syndrome to do an excellent job. Doing an excellent job is important because the quality of a task executed is reflective of the quality of the employee who undertook the task.
So, to excel in career, it is imperative that one avoids the tyranny of student syndrome. To successfully do that, the following tips will be of help.
You were given ample time to produce an excellent result
If you thought you could do excellently in one day what your boss gave you two weeks to do, then you underrate your boss’ intelligence. Of course you could complete the assignment in one day and your boss knew this. He also knew that if you had just one day to do it, it would turn out to be of mediocre quality. But he wanted something better than that, hence the decision to give you 13 extra days so that your output would be 13 times better than what you would have given him in one day. So, to think you could produce in just one day what would meet his expectations is to consider him a fool. Don’t be fooled, your boss is not a fool.
Remember you are in competition
One fact that every employee will do well to always remember is that whatever they eye, others also eye; whatever they want, others want as well. The point here is that competition in the workplace is keen and it can only get keener. So, what you get is not only determined by what you do, it is also dependent on what others do. Having this consciousness will ginger you to make the most of your time and avoid being a victim of the student syndrome.
Remember, no opportunity is ever lost
It is often said that once an opportunity is lost, it cannot be regained. But in reality, no opportunity is ever lost. An individual or an organisation may miss an opportunity but that opportunity is seized by another person or organization. Somebody’s loss is another person’s gain. Somebody’s missed opportunity is another’s seized opportunity. So, it is left to each person to either seize opportunities or pass them up. If you miss the opportunity to perform a task on the agreed terms, there is someone else who will deliver on the agreed terms. If you miss the opportunity to impress your boss about what you can do, there are others who will do it.
On February 14, 1876, both Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray filed their telephone inventions at the United States of America Patent Office. Bell was the fifth person to file for a patent that day. Gray sent his attorney to file the patent for him. The attorney arrived at the patent office one hour after Bell had already filed his own. Just because Gray’s filing arrived 60 minutes after Bell, the credit for telephone invention was given to the latter. Imagine the number of years that Gray spent on his work. Imagine the financial resources committed to the project. Imagine the quantum of efforts invested in the invention. All went down the drain because of one hour lateness.
The honour that is given to Bell would have been that of Gray had his attorney arrived at the patent office 61 minutes earlier than he did. Do not repeat Gray’s mistake. Do not attract Gray’s frustration to your life. Jettison the student syndrome.
Reward or sanction yourself
Inside every adult is a child. The child in you responds to reward and sanction. So, you can use this to keep yourself on track and guard against sliding into the gulag of student syndrome. How does this work? Whenever you keep to the scheduled time for an assignment and do not have to wait till the last minute to start the work, reward yourself with a gift. On the other hand, if you fail to start a task in good time and have to wait till the last minute before swinging into action, sanction yourself. You may want to deny yourself a cherished pleasure whenever you fall into the student syndrome.
This is very important for you need to tell yourself that failing to start a task on time is a result of a habit. The habit has to be broken for you to make progress in your career. If you have a reputation for turning in a sloppy report each time you are given an assignment, it will be difficult to go far. To go far, whatever you do must have a touch of excellence. The starting point is avoiding the student syndrome.
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