This is Steve Robbins. Welcome to the Get It Done Guys quick and dirty tips to work less and do more.

We've all dealt with flaky people. Flaky pastries, tasty and delicious.

Flaky people, on the other hand, usually slow us down. They get in our way, and they generally keep us from working less and doing more.

The problem is that we can't depend on them.

So, they promise they'll do their part on time and under budget, and then they don't deliver.

Or even worse, they simply don't communicate.

Deadlines come and go, and we're never quite sure whether we should be waiting for them

to finally do what they promised, whether we should assume they've quit and no longer even work for the company, or whether we should be melting a wax sculpture

of them over a candle flame, because goodness knows nothing else has worked yet.

Regardless, if you're like me and you actually are motivated by getting lots of stuff done,

you need to master the skill of being able to have a path forward even if the flakes are out in force.

Now, since by definition, flaky people don't get things done on time, you can start to rely on

this. When coordinating with a flaky person, set up defaults. Defaults are what will happen if they

don't deliver. Then make sure they know about it.

Europa is now managing Bernice's store, green-growing things, while Bernice is formulating strategy.

Europa insists that she approve every financial and PR decision that happens at the company.

Melvin emails,

The Audrey twos are growing so large that we need a new greenhouse.

Can we spend the money?

Caitlin emails. I need the inventory level for band-aids because we have to reorder.

But even though she wants to be in the loop, Europa rarely writes back.

I'm too busy, she cries. Well, of course she's busy. She's in the middle of everything.

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