Sometimes waiting is the strategy of choice. Waiting can lead to the best outcome for all concerned, or if you aren't concerned for all, it can lead to the best outcome for you. Strategic waiting isn't procrastination. It isn't simply enduring the passage of time until whatever is happening (or not yet happening) stops happening (or starts). Strategic waiting is a choice to achieve favorable results, or to increase the chances of favorable results, by exploiting the passage of time.
In past issues, I've discussed several examples of strategic waiting in different situations. Here's a collection plus a couple more.
- Take time to prepare your response to bullying
- Most bullies know far more about bullying than their targets know about responding to bullying. When preparing to finally respond to the abuse, a common error targets make is to respond before they're really ready. Waiting to respond while making full preparations is a smart strategy. See "Biological Mimicry and Workplace Bullying," Point Lookout for March 31, 2010, for more.
- Make space for others to volunteer
- Usually, voluntarily taking responsibility for an unpleasant or risky task is appreciated. But volunteering is wise only if the degree of appreciation is in proportion to the risk or unpleasantness of the task. When in doubt, consider waiting to see if someone else volunteers. See "The Power of Situational Momentum," Point Lookout for February 24, 2010, for more.
- Wait to accumulate solid evidence
- When contemplating filing a complaint about someone's behavior or performance, be certain that you have a solid, documented case. Waiting for evidence to accumulate to a sufficient level is wise. See "The Power of Situational Momentum," Point Lookout for February 24, 2010, for more.
- Solve problems with time
- Creativity Strategic waiting is a choice
to achieve favorable results,
or to increase the chances of
favorable results, by exploiting
the passage of timehappens even when we aren't trying. Sometimes, setting a problem aside for a while is all that's required for generating the insight that opens the path to a solution. Waiting for your brain to work on the problem, in the background, can be a useful strategy. See "The Shower Effect: Sudden Insights," Point Lookout for January 25, 2006, for more. - Some problems vanish when solutions present themselves from unexpected sources, but that's more likely to happen if you give it a little time. And some problems are never resolved, but with time, resolving them can become unimportant or even irrelevant.
- Let trouble be a lesson
- Some people, groups, or organizations need to learn important lessons. For whatever reason, they don't heed warnings however sincere they might be. Waiting for a small example of the trouble foretold can be an effective means of changing minds, if the example is small enough to prevent major damage, but big enough to focus those minds.
- Express opinions at the right time
- When expressing an opinion sufficiently divergent from what most believe, prepare for opposition and rejection. That's acceptable. But if you express such opinions often enough, opposition and rejection happen independent of the opinion expressed. To limit this risk, wait for the group to move toward your view just a bit before expressing your view. Too much divergence, too consistently, erodes your credibility even if your views are usually valid.
How to use some of these waiting tactics might not be obvious. Give it time. Top Next Issue
Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!
Your comments are welcome
Would you like to see your comments posted here? rbrendPtoGuFOkTSMQOzxner@ChacEgGqaylUnkmwIkkwoCanyon.comSend me your comments by email, or by Web form.About Point Lookout
Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.
This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.
Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.
Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.
Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.
Related articles
More articles on Problem Solving and Creativity:
- Choices for Widening Choices
- Choosing is easy when you don't have much to choose from. That's one reason why groups sometimes don't
recognize all the possibilities — they're happiest when choosing is easy. When we notice this
happening, what can we do about it?
- The Perils of Piecemeal Analysis: Group Dynamics
- When a team relies on group discussion alone to evaluate proposals for the latest show-stopping near-disaster,
it exposes itself to the risk that perfectly sound proposals might be inappropriately rejected. The
source of some of this risk is the nature of group discussion.
- Design Errors and Groupthink
- Design errors cause losses, lost opportunities, accidents, and injuries. Not all design errors are one-offs,
because their causes can be fundamental. Here's a first installment of an exploration of some fundamental
causes of design errors.
- On Assigning Responsibility for Creating Trouble
- When we assign responsibility for troubles that bedevil us, we often make mistakes. We can be misled
by language, stereotypes, and the assumptions we make about others.
- Resolving Ambiguity
- Ambiguity is anathema to success in collaborations. It causes errors and rework, extending time-to-market.
When we interpret information, we often choose the first interpretation we find, never recognizing that
others are possible. That leads to failure.
See also Problem Solving and Creativity and Conflict Management for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
- Coming April 3: Recapping Factioned Meetings
- A factioned meeting is one in which participants identify more closely with their factions, rather than with the meeting as a whole. Agreements reached in such meetings are at risk of instability as participants maneuver for advantage after the meeting. Available here and by RSS on April 3.
- And on April 10: Managing Dunning-Kruger Risk
- A cognitive bias called the Dunning-Kruger Effect can create risk for organizational missions that require expertise beyond the range of knowledge and experience of decision-makers. They might misjudge the organization's capacity to execute the mission successfully. They might even be unaware of the risk of so misjudging. Available here and by RSS on April 10.
Coaching services
I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrendPtoGuFOkTSMQOzxner@ChacEgGqaylUnkmwIkkwoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.
Get the ebook!
Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:
- Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, )
- Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, )
- Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, )
- Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, )
- Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, )
- Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, )
Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500-1000 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info
Follow Rick
Recommend this issue to a friend
Send an email message to a friend
rbrendPtoGuFOkTSMQOzxner@ChacEgGqaylUnkmwIkkwoCanyon.comSend a message to Rick
A Tip A Day feed
Point Lookout weekly feed