Acknowledging the Gaps in How We Use Time in The Planning Process
Musicians are trained to consider the use of time in creating work. Many in the video production/ art field as well, but for many of us we have been trained to think transactionally for six sigma results and maximum efficiency.
A financial planner recently asked me to think in decades instead of years.
It really made me stop and think about how I look at time in terms of my work. I find that we are asked to think “fast” and “slow” at times depending on the campaign or project. Most of us will gladly embrace years of historical data to come up with valid insights. However, the trend we are often seeing is about “real time marketing” and daily feedback loops. In PR we talk about “extending the news cycle” to compensate for people’s ( or institutions ) short attention spans. Changing time or the perception of time can create some amazing emotional experiences for a user or consumer or planner.
My thought to end on for the night is…
Think big and small at the same time. Think in weeks, and quarters. Hourly, and daily. But try and think in both states.
Having a plan means you can always change it, but being able to set your milestones and think bigger about the entire project may yield new innovative ideas. It may need real time support or help along the way ( guest blogs, media training interviews, pitching, omni channel outreach ), but the milestones will be in place.
There will always be enough moments to cherish the real time and the journey, but we need to think bigger, and time is a great place to start in thinking big. hashtag 4 dimensional thought.
If time is our biggest asset, why do we rarely use it.
-pd
ps. Aside : http://www.10000yearclock.net/learnmore.html
Good vs Better 