You remember I talked about being offered my Dream Job. I didn't act on it but I did have an opportunity to do some Limited work with the group and subsequently I have Learned some things that have given me pause. I'm glad I remained still and let the world rise-up around me. In reflection, what I learned can only be learned over time - and that's the real lesson, that true understanding can only happen over time. That is what I want to write about today - about time.

How many of us have met someone or had a good experience and thought, wow, she's really cool, or gee, he's great to work with, or gosh, I love working with that team; and then you move from that limited experience to the next level - dating, applying for a job, or joining the team. Then six months down the road of experience you realize that she doesn't share your values, that organization has a blame culture, or the team is driven by a micro-manager. But now your in it. You're married, hired, or beat-down. Yeah, this is the personal lesson, but personal lessons are where we can derive learning. The theoretical learning here is that the evidence first observed are not applicable to the future. It is only a snap-shot in time, a single event from which you cannot project future behavior.

Allowing time to pass, being patient with both yourself and the 'experience' with which you are engaged, is not easy in a world where decisions are expected to be made quickly. How long can you sit in a group and let silence rain? How long can you date someone and remain in observation mode without making a life altering commitment? How long do you collect data to know if the organization you're in is the right organization? How long?

The challenge is two-fold. First, allowing yourself enough time to collect data. Not to the extent of 'analysis paralysis' but have enough experience from which to draw conclusions. The second challenge is to know how to decode the data.

If you have examples of either challenge, please share it.