A: And so, I just wanted to check in with you and find
out where we are with this project. As you know,
you’ve missed a fairly significant deadline last
week, and this will negativity impact the team’s
ability to move forward with the next stages of this
project.
B: I know, I’m really sorry that I missed the dead-
line. But really, it wasn’t my fault. You see, we
had all of these unexpected technical problems
at the last minute, and that I couldn’t get into the
database and extract the kind of information that I
needed for the data analyis. You know, if the tech
guys would have done their job and kept the CRM
stable, then I wouldn’t have missed my deadline.
A: Oh, come on! An excuse like that is tantamount
to lying. You’re essentially blaming the tech team
for your time management issues, rather than ac-
cepting responsibility for the fact that you were
procrastinating for the past two weeks.
B: No, I’m not trying to pass the buck here; I know
that it was me who is ultimately responsible for
getting this done. But the thing is, I could have
finished on time if the system hadn’t gone down.
And you know, with everything I’ve got going on
now, I can’t afford to waste time dealing with tech-
nical problems. I’ve got a lot on my plate and there
are only twenty-four hours in a day...
A: I’m not going to accept this excuse. You’re us-
ing these small technical glitches as a crutch and
trying to rationalize the fact that you’ve missed
your deadline. Look, we have standards and I ex-
pect you to live up to those standards. No more
phoney excuses. If you’re in over your head, you
tell me. No more missed deadlines. Now, I want
that data on my desk by nine am!
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