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# Reader questions: on deadlines, on saying sorry, and on the channel that never sleeps
- URL: https://azimuth.aftertype.studio/reader-questions-deadlines-apologies-slack/
- Published: 2026-10-01T12:24:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T10:44:14.000Z
- Description: Three questions from this month's inbox: a deadline nobody believes in, an apology that came too late, and a chat channel that runs all night.
- Author: Ida Mercer
- Tags: Reader Questions, #Import 2026-10-06 19:29

Three questions from readers this month, answered in full. As always, names and details changed.

## "Our deadline is fiction and everyone knows it. Do I say so?"

Yes, but say what you would put in its place. A deadline everyone privately ignores is worse than no deadline, because it teaches the team that dates are decoration.

## "I apologised to my team two weeks too late. Does it still count?"

It counts more than not apologising, and less than doing it on the day. The useful part now is saying what you will do differently - that is the part people remember.

## "Our main channel runs all night. How do we stop it?"

Not with a rule about hours. With a rule about decisions: nothing decided in the channel after six counts until it is written down the next morning. The messages slow down on their own.