Active Waiting Revisited : Learning from Lions
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Active Waiting Revisited:Learning from Lions
C. W. Von Bergen & Martin S. Bressler
Southeastern Oklahoma State UniversityDurant, OK
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“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion
wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a
gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better start running” (Friedman, 2005, p. 114).
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Emphasis on Action—Speedy Action
• The quickest, swiftest, and fastest live another day• Fast action enables firms to thrive and flourish• A bias for action: “Ready, fire, aim” (Peters &
Waterman in In Search for Excellence)• Taking initiative• Being proactive• Making things happen• Paralysis of analysis• Procrastination
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Procrastination
• Today the term has disparaging connotations– Stalling– Putting off– Postponement
• Until the industrial revolution the term implied– Informed delay–Wisely chosen restraint– A sophisticated, astute decision when not to act
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Learning from (Wise) Lions• Lions must be smart in running• Inexperienced young lions that reflexively
chase targets suffer many failed hunts. • The more successful hunters carefully scan
the horizon and wait with patience and focused attention for the right circumstances to arise—and then act.
• It is not so much the lion’s speed—nor its sheer size and strength alone or else we would still be seeing saber-toothed tigers and woolly mammoths—but its cleverness that is the key to its survival.
• Even if they are hungry, wise lions will pass on a meal rather than risk a reckless attack.
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Managerial Unproductive Busyness and Activity
• Addressing trivial operational issues• Limit their search and consider too few options• Pay too little attention to people who are affected by
a decision• Fear being seen as indecisive, so they make quick
decisions• Immediate action makes managers seem to be on top
of things• Avoid participation because it takes too much time
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This leads to …Cultures of frenzy and
unreflected activity that seem to dominate many organizations
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Active Waiting
• A process in which individuals intentionally hold back from impetuously diving into making irreversible commitments of resources.
• Less a matter of time management but of emotional management
• Pausing reflectively and purposely; occurs in the space between stopping to recognize symptoms and prescribing a treatment
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Two Cognitive Modes of Thinking
Automatic Thinking• Uncontrolled• Effortless• Instinctive • Intuitive • Fast• Unconscious
Reflective Thinking• Controlled• Effortful• Deliberate• Rational • Slow• Self-aware
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Implementing Active Waiting
• Be doubtful• Generate alternatives• Assess alternatives• Be flexible• Implement slowly• Take action
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Be Doubtful
• Doubt is creative because it allows for alternative ways to see the world• Uncertainty helps to slow us down• “Some self-doubt abut one’s performance
efficacy provides incentives to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to master challenges” (Bandura & Locke, 2003, p. 96)
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Generate Alternatives
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Assess Alternatives
• Legality• Ethicalness• Economic feasibility• Practicality
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Be Flexible
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Implement SlowlyIn martial arts there is a saying:
“You have to go slow to go fast.”
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Take Action
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Conclusion“I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business.”—Warren Buffet