Soak Time

Maybe I'm just getting old. But it seems to me that life is happening at an ever increasing speed. This velocity is preventing us from solving the world's really big problems. The media provides us with 3-5 minute shouting matches, where participants recite each side's talking points, (usually talking over one another), then it's on to the next topic.

Our political leaders talk in sound bites, carefully orchestrated to coincide with the "news cycle". We're constantly blurring the lines between news and entertainment.

We're bombarded with "spin".

No real debate. No in depth analysis of the situation and what we need to do about it. Just because we've spent time "on the topic" doesn't actually advance a solution.

A former boss of mine had a great concept. She talked about "soak time" - the time it took an organization to understand a mission or vision and to begin acting on it. She understood that just because you tell someone a plan doesn't mean they get it right away.

They need time to understand, to question, to internalize the message. Time to take the message to heart, before they can effectively commit to it.

Today 24 hr/day sound bites wash over us like a hard rain on parched dry soil. Rivers of information (such that it is), don't get a chance to "soak in".

I think we're all looking for a slow steady rain of ideas and civil discussion, to enable the challenges to soak in. Until we allow ourselves a little "soak time", we're not going to engage enough people to make substantial headway.

It's time to slow down and make haste.