If you need something urgently done, give the task to the busiest (or second busiest) person in the office. — Nassim Nicholas Taleb

If you need something urgently done, give the task to the busiest (or second busiest) person in the office.

Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Insight: The busiest people aren't busy because they're inefficient—they're busy because they've proven they can actually finish things. They've built systems, they say no to distractions, and they've learned how to move fast without cutting corners. When you hand them an urgent task, they don't add it to an endless pile of "someday" projects. They integrate it into their already-running machine and get it done. There's a counterintuitive bit here: the person who seems to have the most time is usually drowning in mediocrity. They've got open space because they're not trusted with important work, or they've gotten comfortable with low stakes. Meanwhile, the overwhelmed-looking person across the room has learned the rhythms of actually delivering. They know how to prioritize ruthlessly, which means they can suddenly absorb something urgent without everything falling apart. This matters in everyday life too, not just office politics. When you need real help—moving, editing something important, planning something complex—the person with a packed calendar often comes through better than the friend who's "between things." Competence and capacity are weirdly linked. The person who knows how to get things done has trained themselves to get things done, even under pressure.

Source: Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, p. 247, 2012