It was funny at work recently.
The team was having some "technical difficulties" getting something done.
It wasn't like it wasn't going to happen, it was just taking a little longer than expected.
I was riding herd on this, since we had made a commitment to get it done by a certain date and time and it was important to get it right.
After a number of delays, I started to question whether we were really going to be able to meet the deadline, and one of my colleagues asks about how the boss will react if we don't make it.
Then all of a sudden, they blurt out, "Is he going to sh*t a brick if we don't make it?"
I was a little taken aback at the saying, but then it was sort of a funny image of the extreme kvetchy face a person would be making in such a situation--trying to pass not a (little) stone, but literally a big brick.
As it turns out, we made the deadline--although we had to use the buffer time we had carefully built in--and the team did a great job, so no bricks, no stones, and just kudos all around. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Making The Deadline