March 2009

Managing the March of Time

A few weeks ago, CBS Sunday Morning featured a piece on the Long Now Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping us lengthen our attention spans. The focus of the group’s work is a 10,000 year clock, designed to change the way we look at time.

"If you get a really short sense of time, then you have a really small sense of what's possible," said Danny Hillis, one of the organization’s founders and designer of some of the world’s first supercomputers. "If we look at a problem like global warming or world hunger, it's pretty impossible problem, if you try to solve it in, say, a Congressional budget cycle or something like that. These are problems that just seem unapproachable. But if you ask, 'Are we gonna solve those problems over the next 1,000 years,' absolutely! We humans have come a long way in the last 10,000 years, and we'll probably go a long way in the next."

While most problems in the business world have a quicker fix, there’s no doubt that Americans in particular suffer from an addiction to urgency. Often we are pressured or self-motivated to get the job done “yesterday,” regardless of the consequences that this short-sighted approach will have on “tomorrow.”

I am seeing and hearing from professionals in many organizations that the pressure is on to redesign processes, realign staff and rethink strategy to become more productive and profitable. I am also hearing that the timetables for these initiatives are rushing staff into action without allowing for careful thought and analysis.

Problems that arose over the course of years are going to take more than a snap decision to solve. Otherwise, we’ll just find ourselves back at square one (or worse) in a few months’ or years’ time.

One of the most valuable leadership skills you can possess is discernment—the ability to recognize which decisions or projects require swift action and which deserve a more thoughtful approach. Mastering this skill will help you and your organization make the most of your time.

Put It into Practice:

In the eyes of many performance improvement experts, being overly busy is just another form of laziness. Overfilling your life and job with a jumble of tasks is a way to avoid doing the hard work—the work that is most important to you or your organization. Sure, it appears like you’re making progress, but often you’re simply spinning your wheels.

Overcoming the addiction to urgency requires courage. Often your company culture forces it upon you, making you feel like you have no choice other than to comply. Other times, your own fear of failure or need to keep up appearances fuels the fire.

To flex your courage muscles, identify something in your life—a project, an initiative, a goal, a relationship—that seems rushed or feels like it deserves more of your time. Make commitment to act thoughtfully in that area—the commitment to have a conversation with your boss, to bring your team together for a meaningful discussion or to take a walk every day to help manage your stress.

Make a commitment not to accept the status quo. The time has come. As Albert Einstein said, “Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”

Perform at Your Peak:

To learn how to curb the rush of time, try our signature program, Leading from the Core. You’ll experience how the philosophies yoga and Pilates can help you identify priorities, make better decisions, and become a stronger, more confident leader in the pursuit of your most important initiatives.

Ovations Inc. takes corporate teams out of the office to experience activities such as cooking, Pilates, golf and scavenger hunts. Teams focus on various areas of peak performance and apply the learnings back to the work environment. Contact us to find out how can help take your team to the top.

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