You need it when? No problem!

There was a sense of urgency to a corporate communications manager’s recent request: “Do you have time to proofread this quickly for me? It’s an internal communications statement … from the president” of the company.

“Yes,” I responded from my iPhone. Sixteen minutes later the edited statement was in his in-box.

Some people panic at tight deadlines. Others just grumble about them. I remember the time at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that I gave an artist an assignment for a simple locator map on a breaking news story. “How much time do I have,” he groused, knowing it wouldn’t be much. “Twenty-five minutes,” I replied. “Oh, a long term project,” he muttered as he trudged from my desk to his.

I enjoy tight deadlines and fast turnarounds. They still get the blood and adrenalin going. They are also something I specialize in. How could I not after four decades in the newspaper business? After all, most of those were spent as a news editor or managing editor when stories, front pages and the day’s planning could turn in an instant.

Funny how that still happens, even in the corporate world.