15 March Managing for the Short Term and the Long Term (...fallacy...)

[Paul Terlemezian]

The risk to those that make decisions is that they make the long term and short term tradeoffs in a manner that is inconsistent.

 

In the short term we train people so that they produce long term results.This creates a short term drop in productivity with the anticipation of the long term gain that justifies the short term loss.

 

Could we train people in a manner that first creates short term results that allow for the funding of further training investments that produce longer term and sustainable results?

 

Is the short term loss a "fact of life" or a habit?

 

 

[Paul Terlemezian]

As business owners are we sacrificing long term value for short term gain?

 

In particular with training and consulting companies - we profess to produce long term value for our clients and do so with short term gain for our companies (short term loss for our clients.)

 

What would it take for you to create asset value (i.e. long term gain) for your company?

 

What are the assets of a knowledge era company that have tangible value apart from the owner's activities?

 

[Paul Terlemezian]

Last year I read (without blogging and with the urging of David Ellis) - "Thinking Fast and Slow" - by Daniel Kahneman. The author refers to the two methods thinking (Fast and Slow) as System 1 and System 2.

From pages 21-22 of the paperback edition:

Fast - "System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control."

Slow - "System 2 allocates attention to the effortful mental activities that demand it, including complex calculations. The operations of System 2 are often associated with the subjective experience of agency, choice, and concentration."

System 1 causes us to cheer when our favorite athlete makes an appearance and boo/hiss when they do not perform as expected.

System 2 allows us to support the athlete even when they fail because we recognize that they are a free agent and may leave our team if they do not feel welcome in their "home" city.

Our challenge as learning leaders is to find a way to motivate fast thinking (automatic and quick) to slow thinking challenges.

For example - when the restaurant patron describes the meal they just consumed as having not met their expectations - we might quickly respond with an apology and a check for the full amount. We might also respond by bringing the concern to the attention of the manager who has authority to adjust the check and perhaps offer a discount for a return visit. From a customer experience the responses are distinct and favor the "slow" thinking. From an immediate business impact the first choice provided a better profit today.

Might we bring System 2 thinking to System 1 delivery of training by engaging the learner in an immediate activity that produces a short term benefit and yet reinforces the long term strategy we are focused on?

Have you experienced anything like this?