How perspective on time impacts success?

To close out our series about “The value of organization” we are going to take a look at the cultural aspect of the systematic attribute, especially as it applies to time management, how time is seen and used, and what it can mean for us in daily life.

To some extent it depends on where you are coming from, what your heritage is, to determine how you see time. Our culture is significantly impacted by our heritage, as well as our upbringing and the experiences we make over time. Past, present, and future have differing significance in people’s minds. Here are a few statements to consider from a book titled: “Riding the waves of culture”:

• Our expectations of the future determine our present
• Our present actions determine the future
• Our present experience determines our view of the past
• The past has made us what we are today

How would this apply in practical terms? The authors say:

We can make ourselves miserable in the present if a long expected payment is delayed to the future. We can discover in the present a fact that makes what we did in the past far more justifiable. In fact, an important part of creativity is to assemble past and present activities, plus conjectures about the future, in new combinations.

As we have seen in previous installments of this series, some people see time and events in a sequence and therefore apply a very systematic view to tasks, goals, time, etc. On the other hand, other people have the clustered approach to organizing, which often also uses a more community oriented system. What does that mean in practical terms?

Well, people scoring high on the systematic attribute and being very organized would not easily break the sequence of events, violate priorities, etc.  If they are waiting in line fore something and another person would jump in front of them, they would be offended, and try to re-establish order.

Conversely, lease with a more clustered and community oriented approach would not see this as a significant inconvenience. A good example form the book mentioned above talks about an Italian butcher. When he unwraps salami, he would ask all the people in the store who would want or need salami and then cut slices accordingly. This way the sausage would only have to be touched ones, even though the persons who entered the store last might get served out of order. As you can see the sequential approach to order is not always the most successful.

When talking or writing about time, planning, and being organized, I feel it is important to recognize the importance of scale. Where I come from, longer term planning was always a part of life. I guess most people in the Western hemisphere and countries would agree. Still, the magnitude can vary. For me long term is 5-10 years, for many of my American friends is more like 6-12 months. Part of this view stems from the fact that people in the United States like to have control. That also goes for the future to some extent. If present actions shape the future, which can only really happen in relatively close proximity between present and future. Even though today’s actions have impact on the future in 5 or 10 years, it is not easily and immediately detectable.

For me this difference in the view and scale of time and what future really means, manifested itself during a large scale project I was in charge of a few years ago. A significant number of residences were to be build in a small town. This created an opportunity for people to get into real estate with a very modest investment. The really cool part of the project was that the residences would all be rented for 3 years at a time based on a 19 year contract. In addition, the rent collected was subsidized by the government resulting in rates significantly higher than typical for the region. This allowed for a residence to be fully paid off in about 10 years.

I thought this was a fabulous opportunity to invest. When do you get the chance to put in about $10.000 and ten years later you own a house free and clear – or so I thought. Well, very few of my friends and associates actually participated in this opportunity. They main concern was the lack of positive cash flow coming from the rent form the beginning of the contract. Without it they deemed this to be a risky deal and stayed away. Those who jumped in kept smiling all the way to the bank. When asked, most people said that a 10 year time horizon was too long for them to plan on. Now, almost 10 years later, the early investors keep getting the rent and don’t have any payments anymore. It’s basically like retirement happening early. Even in another 10 years, when the underlying contract runs out, they will be able to rent the residences for approximately 30 more years before they fall apart. As often – it all depends on your perspective of time and opportunity.

As with all the other aspects affecting the systematic attribute, time and the perspective you have towards past, present and future makes a big difference for your actions. It is true that we can’t change the past. On the other hand, the level to which we cherish it has impact on our actions today and in the future. As mentioned many times, being aware how you think about these things and analyzing how your actions and view fit into your perspective is the first step to solidify what works well and adjust what doesn’t work so well.

In summary, all the different aspects impacting the systematic attribute need to be considered together to provide an explanation of the scores you can reach, the changes you can make to your life, and the actions you can and should take to get the most out of life. The systematic attribute plays a pivotal role in tapping into your performance potential. When you know where you stand and way your goals really are, and you add your perspective of time, you have an excellent chance to carve out a path that will be on a direct line towards success.

Axel Meierhoefer, President AMC LLC