ASAP is Bullshit

Over time, many words and phrases lose their meaning, their value, and their purpose, so obscure that they are often used hyperbolically or are completely disconnected from the core foundations of any (nonviolent) communication, i.e., observation, feelings, needs, and requests. Like “literally”, “random” (ugh!), or “ASAP”. I think I hate the last word the most because it is in all caps.

Let’s break down ASAP (as soon as possible), one of the most overused corporate/workplace terms. Frequently used to show a sense of urgency, but how urgent is it? In the context of a workplace, does either party in the conversation know by when this needs to be done? Maybe my earliest possible time window is a week from now - are you okay with that? I don’t think so.

You would have no clue if the requester is going to be fine if you do it tomorrow morning? or by the end of today? or maybe what you really wanted to say was “do it in the next 10 minutes, please”?

You can see my point. If you need something done by a certain day or time, be specific.

A lot can change with a little context. Example: Imaging you are speaking with someone over a call, and they say “Please give me 2 minutes, I’ll try to get this fixed ASAP”, you know you both are going to wait a few minutes. There is now a clear, mutually understood timeframe of actions needed.

If you can’t really express or extract by when something needs to happen, can we really call it urgent? Maybe best described as important? Might as well request it to be done “at your earliest convenience” and let people off the pressure of guessing what you really meant.

If you don’t know how long an activity might take, and you are dependent on the person doing the work to inform you, then be intentional. Ask. If you wanted them to drop what they were doing and help you right then and there, say so. If you get asked to do something ASAP but you can’t reasonably guess why it is urgent (in the context of other things on your plate) or a clear sense of by when you could do it - Ask.

Lastly, if you are a leader, this gets even more misguiding unless you are over-communicating. I’ve seen many leaders and managers use this forsaken word with little to no context of ‘why’ something is urgent or a clear request of by ‘when’ it could be done. I think that’s just being lazy if not downright irresponsible. You are already introducing a bias when you are coming in and saying do something “because I said so”. You will more often find people will simply follow it, which makes the situation worse by building a culture centered around one person’s whims.

TL;DR

If you are using “ASAP” in your request then try to give the context of ‘why’ and by ‘when’ something could be done If you don’t know how long something will take, and you are dependent on the requestee to inform you, then please say so. If you are on the receiving end of an empty “ASAP” request, ask about ‘why’ (if you can’t be reasonably sure yourself) or by ‘when’ is it okay for you to do it.