Opportunities, engagement, speed and pace

[martinprogrammer]

Just some musings on the importance of the awareness of time and the speed/pace optimisation. Comments welcome.

Opportunities exist in the Window of Opportunity

Opportunities are favourable circumstances that present the chance to do something. They are time-sensitive as they arise from the ever changing complexities of life itself. This (time-constrained) container that tenants an opportunity is usually called the Window of Opportunity.

The Window of Opportunity refers to the period during which a particular opportunity is available before the circumstances change and the chance disappears. It provides a temporal structure that can be used for the optimisation of engagement in relation to the opportunity. Taking advantage of an opportunity requires an acknowledgment of this time frame.

When evaluating and considering opportunities, there are a number of critical components to be taken into account to make informed decisions and increase the potential for success.

Among them - timing and its related factors - speed and pace rank highly.
The speed at which a machinery for taking advantage of an opportunity is put together and the inertia of the project itself is essential both for not missing the Window of Opportunity and for maximising the chances of the successful outcome.

Time is not just a measure of hours and days but a rhythm that governs the pace of the engagement and the involvement.

People engage with opportunities and subject matter in time!

Teams, individuals and their interactions are time conditioned and time bound

People form relationships in time.

They also relate to sense-making in time and have an awareness of the pace of the progression of events in time.

People engage with other people in time.

Given that time is limited and that there are competing interests for one's time in relation to opportunities and each other - would it make sense to say that one should strive for speed both in engaging with other people and the subject matter?

I suggest that there are three human concepts that are relevant for the velocity of engagement - motivation, curiosity and attention - in any order

They are the ones that want to do and they feed off each other. They are also contagious, both interpersonally and culturally.

Motivation is closely linked to the perception of time and progress. The excitement of discovery taps into natural curiosity and the desire for competence. When revelations come at a steady pace individuals are more likely to remain engaged and motivated. If the pace is too slow or fast it can lead to either frustration or the feeling of being overwhelmed.

Attention is a scarce resource in an age of competing distractions. The pace at which a discovery, learning or work moves can either enhance or diffuse the attention. A well-paced progress with frequent feedback and active collaboration captures and retains attention by keeping people absorbed.

As people come together, there is a need to set into a tempo that's optimal for the maintaining of motivation and attention. But there are also factors that cause this cadence to be sub-optimal.

If one thinks of curiosity, motivation and attention to be revelatory aspects of our behaviour - what would be the ones that are trying to hide?

Every interaction between people is done through protocols that control the speed of interpersonal engagement, the depth and the communication style, to name some.

Fundamental curiosity (or personal curiosity) is our natural tendency to seek new information and experiences.

1. This innate curiosity is balanced through self-awareness - we understand what motivates us to ask and how our enquiries are perceived by others.
2. Emotional intelligence allows us to empathise with others and allow us to ask the right questions at the right time
3. Impulse control is our capacity to resist the urge to ask questions impulsively

Normativism is a big part of our curiosity moderation.

1. Social Etiquette - that's how we're societally conformed to behave and how and when to express curiosity
2. Cultural sensitivity - being aware and respecting cultural differences
3. Hierarchy and Power Dynamics - knowing what to ask and when given that there are social hierarchies and that we all have a place in them that gives us power or weakness in relation to others

Psychological considerations

1. Trust Issues
2. Vulnerability
3. Respect for boundaries
4. Different attachment styles
5. Fear of Rejection

What would a research into the optimisation of the speed and the pace look like?
Would it be possible to create a framework for removing or diminishing the inhibitors?

[JonahWilberg]

Very interesting questions again, and curious to hear your suggestions for answers.

I think it would be useful to link these questions with existing research paradigms, so as to avoid 'reinventing the wheel'. Existing research paradigms that seem relevant here include action research and cooperative inquiry as research methodologies, the theory and techniques of group psychotherapy, and the psychology of group flow. Naturally there will a significant amount of context dependence in setting the pace for a particular group, and in particular cases there's an element of judgement that cannot be formalised, I would say.

[martinprogrammer]

Yes, indeed - a good question. I think this would be mainly a research into our opportunity and how we perceive it as it represents itself to us.

If an opportunity is a potential for a positive outcome or progress towards a goal - it contrasts itself with a less desirable current state or a challenge that needs to be overcome.

Within this understanding we can further ask ourselves if this is an adversarial opportunity or perhaps an inclusive one?
Adversarial opportunity stands against the status quo, competing alternatives and potential losses.

Now, potential losses can be the loss of the opportunity, the waste of resources or maybe even the emergence of an ever less desirable current state, as the result of the adversarial challenge.

One might come to conclusion that there's urgency and pressure and that somehow points at the importance of the speed at which the capacity for making decisions and taking advantage of an opportunity gets built. It also draws attention to the scope of the systemic change and maybe even a possibility to re-orient an opportunity from adversarial to an inclusive one.

This is just an ideation rambling, but the essence of it is that the mission and our participation are both taking place within a limited time frame and that limit is multi-dimensionally imposed. The mission is not open-ended because it's time-bound by the opportunity.