(Almost) nothing is that urgent
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As Stephen Hawking would say, “with the theory of relativity, there is no absolute single time; instead, each individual has his own measure of time that depends on where he is and how he is moving.” No, I do not know anything about physics. But if time is in and of itself relative, why not just do a bit of thinking about our relationship with time?
I have the impression that everything is due yesterday. Proposals must be sent within 24 hours. Workshops need to happen overnight. Deliveries have to be made in record time. But why hurry so much, when proposals generally take months to be approved, workshops can always be postponed, and deliveries are only sometimes read the moment they are sent?
Here at MakerBrands, as the name implies, we are fans of doing and making and making processes as efficient as possible. We see that this is feasible every single day. Simple mechanisms, such as bringing together all responsible parties for a delivery in order to work together for several days, have incredible effects: Aligned team, less re-dos and reduced project delivery time, which can represent months of work.
But if time is in and of itself relative, why not just do a bit of thinking about our relationship with time?
Now, don’t go thinking that I’m a believer in procrastination or love processes that drag on for no reason. What I propose here is only some relativism regarding the sense of urgency that seems to have taken hold of people and companies, based on the following points:
• Planning is not a waste of time. This is not a step that can simply be cut from projects. A minimum of reflection on the stages of the project can ensure that their implementation is faster.
• Deliveries have their own time — and this must be respected. As a teacher I had once said, it is impossible for nine women to create a baby in one month. This means that each delivery needs a minimum time to be planned and executed. Demanding that steps must be skipped does not lead anywhere. Or at least not anywhere very good.
- Urgency is a reflection of the results we want. With so many projects, demands, and goals that must be simultaneously met, and without much justification for doing so, it’s hard to stay focused and deliver truly relevant actions and initiatives for organizations and people.
Some slow life movements have questioned our current relationship with time. Slowfood,Cittaslow,Slow design,Slowtravel, among others, seek to reconnect with food, spaces, objects, and experiences. The aim is to learn to give things their proper time. I’m not saying this is the solution, but at least it’s another perspective about our rushing about.
The idea here is not to have you spend more of your time with an article like this. So I end with three questions. Why are we doing what we are doing? Where do we want to go in such a hurry? How about respecting the personal time and the time it takes for things to happen?
By: Maíra Valladares
