THE BIG HURRY AND THE STRANGE TALE OF THE PHANTOM FINISH LINE

“What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare,” - W H Davies, super-tramp and poet.

Photo by Getty Images.

It’s fashionable now, in response to the question “How are you”, to say “Oh, really busy, you know,” as though to be so is an essential badge of honour, that to be idle is a sin, to simply be is socially unacceptable.

Have you ever got to know someone who is always so busy they don’t actually do anything? Except rush around.

There’s even a pop song about it: “We’re Busy Doing Nothing”, originally sung by Bing Crosby and more recently by the Beach Boys. Is it possible that in the rush we are simply winding up time and in the process ourselves? Because it seems to me that it is we who are responsible for embodying that familiar Latin aphorism “Tempus fugit” — time flies — as we take part in what I call the Big Hurry.

Why do so many of us now seem to be always rushing to a meeting, grabbing a snack, too busy even to sit down to eat? And why — like that drive-thru burger — do we gobble our time, consume it rather than savour it? Why do we seem intent on the mad dash for our demise? Partly I think because we are encouraged that we can fit more into our days, consume more in our precious hours and minutes. It’s good for business! Isn’t it? Partly too because we are increasingly surrounded and, in some cases, threatened by AI — Artificial Intelligence — which is coming over the hill like an invading army, intent on our jobs, our data, our decisions and choices.

But it’s great, isn’t it?

We can converse with anyone, anywhere. We can order our food, buy tickets for trains or theatre, pay bills, do pretty much anything from our seat in the café. Yes, it is incredible, yes it makes some things easier and safer, yes it can save more lives, yes it has unlocked the world’s knowledge cupboard for nearly all.

But it seems to be largely predicated on the Law of More.

And with More goes the “Wanna have it now!” syndrome, egged on by Faster, aided and abetted in some cases by exploitation of people and planet. Is it possible that, in the rush, we are in danger of leaving our common sense and our values behind, so blinded are we by the bright lights of Novelty?

My concern: are we unwittingly making a Faustian choice?

Now I’m not for a moment advocating ignorance or social isolation as a lifestyle choice, but I do wonder increasingly what we are expecting from the race, from devouring the gift of time rather than making time to enjoy it. Because we might want to consider whether our destiny is to be always clinging on to the coattails of change, as the certainties rush by us into oblivion, or whether we want to co-create the change, perhaps a different one. We might want to reflect then, how we could make space to allow in Curiosity and Imagination, two of the most powerful assets any enterprise can have (and by the way, completely free!).

Could we dare to step off the great commercial conveyor belt for a brief moment to stop, look and listen, to use our gift to ourselves to learn and understand, to integrate and evaluate some of the results of the Big Hurry, the outcomes of a world with its foot stuck on the accelerator?

If we use that time for curiosity, we could remind ourselves of some of the historical moments of reflection that led to extraordinary innovation, to world-changing developments.

It is said the steam engine — that essential power-house of the Industrial Revolution — came about because James Watt’s curiosity around a kettle spurred his imagination. Alexander Fleming’s curious, scientific mind led him to devote time to researching staphylococci, which led, in 1928, to the discovery of penicillin. There are numerous examples throughout history: Archimedes’ Eureka moment in his bath, having finally understood the principles behind water displacement; James Dyson’s phenomenally successful cyclonic vacuum cleaner, launched in 1983 after 5,127 prototypes.

So, in our enterprise, how can we employ the twin forces of curiosity and imagination?

Firstly, as suggested above, by taking some time out. By reflecting. Pausing. Difficult, I hear you think! Too busy? Alright. Perhaps a little structure is called for. Cedric Price, that rather eccentric 1960s architect, had his White Room, an attic space devoid of anything but a circle of chairs, dedicated to reflection and review, and the imagination that evolved from it. He called it his Think Tank. Some organisations have regular meetings for reflective conversations, for developing an honest understanding of the causes of so-called failures and successes.

In setting up an enterprise, in populating it with colleagues and other support, you will be establishing a new, evolving culture, one whose values your own values will strongly influence, values that will become part of your brand. So I suggest ensuring at the outset that the new culture you are creating incorporates and then instils across the whole team the habit of curiosity and the release of imagination that can lead to insight and innovation.

Poet Percy Bysshe Shelley maintained that “imagination is the great instrument of moral good.” Ricardo Semler, CEO of one of the biggest engineering firms in Brazil, employed young, inquisitive people to roam the divisions, observing and asking questions, letting their unfettered imaginations rip, formulating possible innovations. That’s all they did, then reported to him. For them, there was no hurry, and tempus didn’t fugit, with exceptional results.

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