“If You See Something, Say Something.” The New York advertising executive Allen Kay wrote the line on an index card the day after the attacks of September 11, 2001. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority began to use it in 2002.
In July 2010 the MTA gave the Department of Homeland Security a license to use the slogan. The national campaign asks people to be aware of suspicious activity and to know how to report it to law enforcement.
ASAP. — As soon as possible.
Sorry for the delayed response. — An apology for a reply that took a day or two.
Quick question. — A short question that should get a short answer.
Just a heads-up: this will take until Friday. — The extra time is announced before anyone asks.
On it. — I have started.
Any update? — Silence has gone on too long.
Is Friday realistic? What’s a realistic timeline? — The deadline is open to discussion before it is set.
Heads-up: this is going to slip. — A warning that the date will be missed, given before it is missed.
Can I get an extension? — A request for more time.
By end of day. By close of business Friday. — The deadline, stated to the hour.
Down to the wire. At the eleventh hour. Pull an all-nighter. — The work is finished at the last moment.
I have a hard stop at three. — I must leave at three, and I will.
Got a sec? Do you have a minute? — May I interrupt you? The question comes before the interruption.
Let me find time. Grab 15 minutes on my calendar. — Let us book a slot. Or: book the slot yourself.
Send me an invite. — Make it a calendar entry, so that it exists.
I’m back-to-back all day. — My day has no open slot.
I blocked off the afternoon. — I reserved the time in my calendar, so that no one else can book it.
I’ll let you go. — I know your time is limited, so I am ending the conversation.
When Alan Mulally became Ford’s chief executive in 2006, the company was losing billions. He held a weekly Business Plan Review where each executive reported the status of his area by color. At first every status in every meeting was green.
Then Mark Fields showed red. He had stopped production of the Edge over a problem with the tailgate. “When I showed that first red, there was a lot of tension in the room,” Fields said. “Then Alan clapped.” Mulally said: “Great visibility, Mark. Is there anything we can do to help you?”
Nursing guidelines state a rule. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services begins it with a capitalized word in its documentation guidelines: “REMEMBER, if you didn’t document it, it didn’t occur.”
A nursing textbook explains why. “Legally only actions or care documented are seen as being completed.” It adds a reminder that the note may go to court and must be readable by a jury.
The Federal Trade Commission’s guide for homeowners hiring a contractor gives plain advice: “Even if your state doesn’t require a written agreement, ask for one.” The contract “should be clear and concise and include the who, what, where, when, and cost of your project.”
Changes go on paper too. “A change order is a written authorization to the contractor to make a change or addition to the work.”
Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation. A four-part script for handing a patient from one American clinician to another, taught in nursing schools and used in hospitals nationwide. Borrowed from the US Navy, where it standardized reporting to a commanding officer, and adopted in medicine because unstructured handoffs were losing information at every shift change.
American spaceflight puts every flight controller on continuous voice loops, each one listening to several conversations at once and able to speak into any of them. The room is designed so that nobody has to ask. The information arrives whether or not you knew to want it.
American football stops play so that eleven people can be told the next move, and the sport built the pause into its own structure to allow it. The word crossed into American business intact — a huddle is a short unscheduled meeting whose only purpose is to get everyone holding the same picture.