All too often we preempt a critical pause. These executives were going by traditional Industrial Age redwork plays. They were reinforcing the importance of production adhering to the stated timeline. They were deliberately trying to set the team into a prove-and-perform mindset in support of making the deadline. But this action also activated a protect mindset in people, and in both cases, prove or protect, the mindset made it harder for team members to state dissenting opinions or raise objections.
