tactic library
Work

False deadline

also called: Artificial urgency

An invented time pressure that stops you from thinking or negotiating.

how it sounds

I need this by end of day, should be quick.

What they’re really doing

Urgency is used as a substitute for prioritisation. If you accept the deadline without pricing it, you absorb the cost of their planning failure.

The reply that answers it

Happy to prioritise it. To land it today I'd have to push [other task] — which should I drop?

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Decode my message — first one free

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