Years ago when working as a financial analyst in a large company, I came across an engineering friend who was staring out the window at his desk. Those schedules you guys give us allow so much time. I could do in two weeks what you ve given us six weeks to do, he said. Meanwhile, across the way, I happened to know that a team faced a deadline in two weeks for work that should have been given at least six weeks. They made their deadline of submitting a proposal for a contract they won.
Deadlines can also have a negative impact on creativity.
Creativity is usually treated as if it were something separate from normal work rather than something that emerges out of work. A looming deadline can easily cause one to grasp hold of the first workable solution to a problem even if the problem promises more powerful solutions with further work. One tip given by creativity consultants is Don t settle for the first right answer. Work a bit further to the point that you have more than one right answer to choose from and you ll invariably have a better solution, they argue. Aggressive deadlines can preclude such an effort.