Research has demonstrated that we tend to perceive time as moving more slowly when we are in prospective mode, thinking about and expecting a future event. This is because mentally focusing on and projecting ourselves into the future requires more cognitive processing, which makes the time intervals leading up to that event appear elongated.

For example, when you are waiting for an exciting event like a vacation or special occasion in the future, the hours and days leading up to that event seem to drag on slowly. However, in retrospective or hindsight, you realize the elapsed time was not as lengthy as it felt when you were in prospective anticipation.

This tendency to feel prospective time dilated has profound implications in a world of accelerated change and exponential markets that many organizations face today. With business transformations happening rapidly, corporate strategy horizons compressing, and technological disruptions emerging seemingly overnight, prospective time comes into play.

Leaders and individual contributors frequently feel prospective anxiety and time pressure weighing on strategic decisions and execution plans. There is a sense that competitive innovations or customer needs are evolving too quickly, which distorts perception of how much runway remains to adapt. Like a vacationer waiting impatiently for future recreation, the present period feels prolonged.

This is precisely why Enterprise Agility devotes attention to managing perception amidst change by understanding the concepts of disciplined and broad focus, and the science of accelerated change. The Enterprise Agility Sense-myself model helps recalibrate focus and perception of time in leaders to make better decisions.

By developing mindfulness of psychological time as a malleable perception, Enterprise Agile leaders make more focused, proactive decisions. Their teams feel empowered by accurate situational awareness despite prospective uncertainty. Ultimately, aligning perception of time to reality is key to navigating periods of accelerated change with flexibility and resilience.

Check also Retrospective Time, Disciplined Focus and Broad Focus.