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But of course we can’t control other people’s behavior toward us. So the next thing to get rid of is Sludge Justification. The great thing about Sludge Justification is that all those excuses that you make up, all those things you say to prove you’re dedicated (I know I’m late but I’ll work extra hours today to make up for it) can be knocked out with one question:

“Is there anything you need?”

The Sludger gives their Sludge: “Your kid seems to get sick a lot. Aren’t you worried that it’s going to interfere with your career?”

You say, in a calm, professional, and nondefensive way, “Is there anything you need?” or, “Is there something I can help you with?”

If said with sincerity, if said in the spirit of really trying to help the person (in other words, in the spirit of doing your job), you will find that this stops Sludge in its tracks because now instead of talking about misguided assumptions, you’re talking about what needs to get done. The issue now is not whether or not your kids are hampering your career but what that person specifically needs from you right now.

Often you’ll find that the Sludger doesn’t really need anything at all. They were just flinging crap around.

But there are times when someone does need something. So you give it to them. And if they complain about your availability, bring it back to the work. “Did you try calling me or e-mailing me?” or, “The deadline for that is Friday. We’re on track. But if there is something we need to discuss then let’s talk about it.”

The point here is to always redirect focus back to the work. The Sludger, even if they don’t realize it, wants to have the conversation based on norms. They are trying to dominate or control or undermine based on time and beliefs about how work is done. The karate chop you can deliver is to bring the conversation calmly and positively back to the work. You ignore the comments about time and the need to be physically present and talk only about the work.

We realize that this isn’t easy. People have said to us, “Isn’t that rude to redirect the conversation like that? Isn’t that disrespectful?” At first people felt guilty pushing back in this way, especially if the person doing the Sludging wanted something or needed something. People were still hung up on the idea of availability rather than performance.

The irony of this is that what’s disrespectful is for the person to ask you why you weren’t there at eight in the first place. Furthermore, the person who is mad at you because you weren’t in your cube at eight better have a very good reason. When you say “Is there something you need?” people are exposed for their poor planning. Their poor planning was the reason they didn’t get the report when they wanted it, not that you weren’t in your cube at eight. (And, as we’ll see in later chapters, it doesn’t matter if the person doing the Sludging is your boss. In a Results-Only Work Environment, everyone’s time is respected.)

You would be amazed at the effect this shift in focus has on the workplace. We’ll see in future chapters how not talking about time makes the workplace much different. Emergencies don’t seem like emergencies anymore. There is more planning. Problems actually get addressed instead of deflected with promises to put in more hours or stay late. You spend more time talking about the actual work, and, not surprisingly, more work gets done. The tone of the workplace also improves, because it’s also really hard to judge people based on what doesn’t matter when you’re focusing on what does.

This focus on results—knowing that you can deflect Sludge with a well placed “Can I help you?”—makes getting rid of Sludge Anticipation easier. Because what you really should be asking yourself is not, “What kind of excuse can I come up with?” The question you really need to ask yourself—and not just when you’re running late—is, “Am I doing my job?” Because if you’re performing and meeting