Hierarchy of Urgency

Which one gets top priority:  critical?  urgent?  ASAP?  Immediately?  And what if there's a bunch of exclamation points?  Do you handle plain old "ASAP" before you get to "ASAP!!"?  Then what about ASAP!!! or ASAP!!!!?  If ASAP means "as soon as possible", what if it's not possible because you're working on something that's "needed yesterday"?  And if it's needed yesterday and yesterday is gone, does that mean it's no longer needed?

For more "heckuva rush" cartoons, click here.

And We'll Need it Yesterday

We can complete a project that's due yesterday without a lot of trouble. Getting it done much sooner than that can be a problem.

Build - Then Design

Sort of like the "ready, fire! aim" approach to construction...

Many of the public projects these days are design-build, a good project delivery method if the construction and design teams partner well together. By having the design team and the construction team collaborate from the start, the final design can perform better, be easier to build, and cost less.

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No matter how heated the rush to "git 'er dun", I've never seen a build-then-design approach that didn't end in disappointment.

Rush The Rush Job

I love the post office scene in the Jim Carrey movie The Grinch where the postmaster is frantically receiving packages at the counter, stamping them as "RUSH" or "HECKUVA RUSH", and then tossing them back over his shoulder.

With the instant responses that seem to be expected these days via phone, text, or email, almost everything is a "heckuva rush".