Step one when responding to a code blue is to take your own pulse, and let the adrenaline pass.

Then there is the 40,000,000 second rule before you start arguing with your wife....ie, think that over REALLY good before you open your mouth.

for me four seconds leads to four minutes witch leads to fours, and four days, four months four years then nothing, just a total blank.

My version of this is to counter my natural assumption that whatever the problem is it was someone else's fault with the sure knowledge a split second later that it was probably MY fault, and I should be calm and polite about it.

Depends on the food, depends on the floor!

Four seconds is likely to be too long, if there's smoke involved.

So, the 4 second rule has nothing to do with dropping food on the kitchen floor?

It all depends on which discussion you're paying attention to.

That is not just for the studio, it is in life.

What about the early bird?

Yes, indeed it is.

Common courtesy is something I find missing today. Consideration and clarification before you speak is necessary when working in a professional environment.

At times, some folks respond before I finish speaking and at times about something completely different from what I'd intended to say. It's incredibly frustrating to say the least.

"Excuse me for speaking while you're interrupting".

I work a lot for "creative" types, geniuses in fact, in their field, who are nonetheless highly impractical about technical issues. With them it seems to be important to listen intently to a conversation before entering it with a question. I want to know something now, but how important is it that I get this answer now? Would it be easier to prepare a couple of scenarios to address whatever the issue is, and wait for a time when the creative is less busy or not "in their zone" making a project? Is the ship just in need of a small course correction or are we about to hit an iceberg? Pick your moment folks. No one likes having their train of thought broken, and you breaking into their bubble at the wrong moment may really affect the quality of the show.

4 seconds does not seem like a lot of time until:

you drop a piece of bread with peanut butter on One Side ... will it land Peanut Butter UP !!! probably ... but time really slows down as you try to reach for that Slice in mid-air as it tumbles towards the Floor !!! and then it hits, Starting the Count it speeds up exponentially .. Peanut Butter Down, forget about it .. BUT Peanut Butter UP is Fair game !!!! 4,3,2 !!!! Decision Time !!!

love it Steve Love it !!!

i have been working with more ot less the same people/a small team of assistants for more than two decades now and they all have lots of expertise in their specific field of work so i don't get involved with 'people talking faster than they are thinking' much (if at all)...

...except: promotors, tour managers, stage managers, management companies, record companies, producers, guest techs (mostly of local bands/opening acts), lampies, videots etc. - does this sound cynical/familiar?

Neither common courtesy nor common sense are very common nowadays. Too much me and not enough we. Everyone is in a hurry, so slowing down for four seconds is a very good practice - gives one a moment to think about what we should have in common. Thanks for the reminder Brother Steve!

And, the follow up response...

Excuse me for interrupting your interruption.

Common courtesy would prevent a lot of things from becoming problems at all levels of life.

I remember working with two older guys in particular who impressed me with their courtesy towards each other even though they were working on opposite sides of an issue involving some siblings who openly despised each other.

The 'Four Second Rule' has come up a few times over the past week, so I figured I'd bump the thread up.