Getting Beyond Short-term Thinking
May 9, 2008 by Eric Eggertson
Filed under Marketing
When politicians and business leaders spend all their time worrying about the next election or the next quarterly sales announcement, you have to wonder who’s looking after the whatever lies beyond that time line (ie. our future).
There are a few examples out there.
Steve Jobs, for one, is a corporate Svengali capable of seeing past the next quarter.
British Columbia premier Gordon Campbell surprised just about everyone by mapping out an environmental strategy for the future. Is it the right strategy? Who knows. Is it better than hoping that climate change won’t devastate the world? I hope so.
Has our society developed an incurable case of ADHD, or is someone else out there capable of overcoming immediate gratification in order to make decisions for the long term?
It’s a wonder Barrack Obama is doing so well in the Democratic presidential race. He’s talking about issues and the future, instead of spouting platitudes and demonizing straw men.
Maybe we’re ready for reality therapy, after the multiplayer worldwide role playing game that has been the worlds of business and politics for the past 8 years.
