The Deadline Effect

Christopher Cox, a former chief editor of Harper’s and executive editor of GQ, argues that deadlines can be powerful motivators. But when facing a deadline, people tend to postpone work until the last minute. This is the essence of the deadline effect. Cox, no stranger to deadlines, observes how many organizations across diverse industries have learned to sidestep the deadline effect to reach their goals on time without panicking or sacrificing quality. These organizations view deadlines as a motivational tool and stick to a timetable without cutting corners. Cox’s fresh, eloquent analysis – teeming with colorful case studies – teaches you to leverage deadlines to your advantage.

The good news is that we have already come up with an incredibly effective structure to solve the problem of our weak wills – it is the deadline.Christopher Cox

The Wall Street Journal wrote, “The good news…is that we can make deadlines work for us instead of the other way around,” and the Financial Times found that, “Cox intertwines behavioral science, psychological theory, and academic studies with compelling storytelling and descriptive case studies.”