There is an old saying that “the reward for good work is getting someone else’s work to complete”. If you are diligent and efficient, you start taking on the unfinished burdens that others in your work unit have not yet accomplished.

The Specialist knows not to do this. If a Specialist is given a 30-minute task, but has two hours to complete it, the task must expand to fill all two hours. That two hours can include a PX trip, a couple of latrine breaks, a smoke or coffee break, and a very leisurely work pace (to avoid injury, you know).

The obverse is also true. If I Specialist has been given a two-hour task, but only 30 minutes to complete, then he or she must know “what are they going to *look at* to determine if it is finished?” and then put the work on that visual cue. While frustrating, these tasks can be done quickly and as long as no one looks too closely, it can burnish the Specialist’s reputation.

Therefore, a task is done when the Specialist is finished with it, regardless of whether or not it is completed.

It is as much “art and timing” as it is actual accomplishment.