Recently I was talking with other leaders that have led through a number of business cycles including DISRUPTED periods and there was strong agreement that having this awareness of time perspectives mis-match would have dramatically reduced a lot of stress for all of us and improved traction navigating challenging times.
Fascinatingly, the time perspectives mis-match is not discussed specifically enough in most leadership references or media, I suspect as in ‘Business as Usual’ environments it is not as stark. While in this gathering of experienced leaders we all had ‘wounds’ of our once clear & aligned teams being derailed swiftly through this mis-match.
Let’s make this a topic we can constructively raise around our leadership team tables. Here’s the overview for your reference and sharing with the team –
When the disruption becomes visible we scramble through a Dis-orientated phase as teams, focusing on the immediate, almost taking it day at a time. As we begin to lift our work and planning and Re-orientate strategy, particularly as leaders of leadership teams and organisations, the clarity and alignment of time perspectives becomes critical. Left unaddressed it causes serious mis-match and once strong teams can begin to tear at the seams. Mis-understandings; Judgement; Factions; Scattered messaging; Dis-engagement; missed opportunities; and missed targeted results are all likely risks.
Most of us have a tendency to use one or other of the time perspectives as our predominant frame because we view the world through the lens of either past, present or future. It is quite often sub-conscious.
Time Perspectives Model
(Source: Traction: the 4 practices of change-fit leadership teams)
Daniel Burrus, author of The Anticipatory Organisation considers that these views are also mindset profiles. Past Mindset/ Present Mindset/ Future Mindset.
Past mindset: People who feel most comfortable with how things used to be, generally demonstrate resistance to change and usually delay moving to new ways of working or using the latest technology because they think the approaches, tools and processes they have been using are proven and working well.
Their world view isthings happen too fast…, the future doesn’t look so good… or the good old days are behind us!
Present mindset: This describes people who are comfortably working with current technology, but who generally wait until new ways of working, methods or devices are proven or implemented by others before using them. They demonstrate a willingness to stay current and devote time trying to keep up.
Their world view is if it’s not broken, don’t fix it!
Future mindset: This describes those who look forward to new advancements in technology and the tools they use professionally and personally. They are impatient, thinking that things are changing too slowly. They are aware of proposed changes in devices, software and apps, as well as innovative applications for new tools. They have a strong willingness to experiment with the latest devices and software upgrades. They are generally first to acquire new technology and step into new ways of working.
Their world view is the best days are yet to come!
Can you picture the three time perspective mindsets around the planning table in turbulent times?
As each person looks at the situation and talks to the other there is a mis-match, a base line disconnect that can unravel effective planning and execution.
Not being conscious of this natural potential mis-match has implications for our view of the situation, and all of the Vital Signs of Organisational Change-fitness.
Being conscious of the time perspectives and engaging the reality of the existence of the different time perspective mindsets strengthens Organisational Change-fitness and delivers traction through this re-orientation phase.
An early indicator that this may be playing out in your organisation is that many team members previously conditioned by stability have a predominant past lens (this can be on teams at all levels including the Executive and the Board), and for these team members it is common to rely on lag indicators of activity that has already occurred.
Pattern identification is from memories of experience. Dashboards are unwittingly unbalanced without lead indicators or real-time tracking. There will be strong gravitation to look at old budgets and business plans.
Present and Future Mindset team members will clash with this.
As leaders of leaders being aware of our own tendency and creating space for yourself and others to develop openness to the full range of time perspectives is a step change in Organisational Change-fitness and the traction you will see moving through challenging phases.
Bring to the surface the time perspectives and open your team to the full range.
When my children were younger, I enjoyed supporting their sports and activities. At one point I coached junior football and really marvelled and enjoyed the development that can happen over a sporting season. One of the changes in junior football development that was different from when I was growing up was how young we introduce kicking both sides. As a coach you could see there was a naturally preferred foot to kick with. However, we would introduce exercises and play getting to turn and kick with either foot. Often as juniors there were moments where for example elegant right foot kickers would turn and deliver some very ugly kicks off the left foot. We coaches and parents clapped and encouraged all of those kicks with the non-preferred foot. Bit by bit you could see that the non-preferred foot was an option the player could utilise. As the competition got more intensive those that could kick both feet had a wider range of options to turn out of tight situations. Those that only used their preferred foot could be great in an open situation free of pressure, yet were predictably constrained when the game got tough.
By becoming aware of our predominant tendency, we can practice and broaden our range—like a right-footer training to kick with either side.
Have you brought awareness of the time perspectives to your leadership team? Do you consciously bring all the time perspectives to the table?
We live in a time of accelerating data collection and analytics. We need to open ourselves and our leadership teams to the full potential of the available insights.
What have you been experiencing? What have you learned by opening up to other time perspectives?
