Time LO20856

J.C. Lelie (janlelie@wxs.nl)
Wed, 10 Mar 1999 16:50:52 -0800

Replying to LO20817 --

Replying to LO20817 --

Hi Scott,

> Tom Abeles, responding to Winfried Dressler wrote in Time LO20793
>
> > How do all these cycles fit together in an organization:

The best definition of time has been found, as far as i know, on the wall
of toilet in a bar in Texas (was it on a trip to Abilene?): Time is the
way in which nature prevents that everything happens at once. In my view,
this is in accordance with the relation between time and entropy, as
developed by At. As soon as many things happen at the same time, entropy
increses rappidly. It is also a part of Systems Thinking.

On the other hand, there is a subjective experience of time, sometimes
refered to as pressure, lack of time, haste. There seems to be a
connection between the rythm of your heartbeat and the inner experience of
time: the slower your hearth beats, the more time you have. So i would
say, do not let the sound of your hearth beat drive you crazy.

> They generally do NOT share best practices because of a lack of time and
> because of the paradox of "goals and objectives and competition" that
> exist within the organization. It is competitive and not collaborative
> ane the organization suffers because results are not optimized either in
> the short or long-run.

A third aspect of time, is that it is a systems parameter, a variable
which can be measured, put into a theory or a model and used to calculate,
plan and achieve results. I once heard it refered to as the First Law of
Planning: Everything Changes Until There Is No More Time To Change It.

> I've got lots of stories and specific examples.
>
> "Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy."
> The Eagles, from "Take it Easy"

The fourth aspect i'll try to tackle later.

Kind regards,

Jan

-- 
Drs J.C. Lelie CPIM (Jan)
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