Time Horizons....

In the Hamilton airport lounge, waiting for my flight to take me home to Calgary after spending the past few days at Redeemer University College. We had a successful annual meeting last evening (followed by faculty artists concert with Valerie Tryon and Paul Thorlakson on the pianos) and an orientation day for new board members today. Reflecting on these events causes me to think of the significance of time frames and horizons.

Annual meetings take place, by definition, annually. As the Chair of a Board of Governors, I am very conscious that the authority we exercise as a board is on behalf of, and as a trust from, the membership and so the annual meeting -- seen by some as a legalistic pro forma exercise, is actually a very important event. Thankfully we had a good meeting in which the only comments raised from the floor were affirming and supportive ones. That however, does not minimize but rather accentuates the importance of the meeting, as a barometer of the trust between the board and the membership and an affirmation that we are leading the institution in a manner is that is consistent with membership expectations. Receiving confirmation of that (at least) annually is a very important part of maintaining a healthy relationship -- no less so than hearing the "I love you" from my wife is important even though I was not questioning that fact.

Today in our orientation session for new board members, we reviewed various aspects of the organization, going back to our founding documents (which re-reading in terms of purpose and objectives are always a useful reminder) as well as reviewing the current issues before us. What struck me was one comment regarding how time frames affect how we see things. Commenting on our environmental initiative, one board member indicated that when we look at things with short term objectives (as in balancing the budget this year), investing in environmental intiatives may not pay but in the longer term it may. Yet, we can only look long term to the extent that we are capitalized and able to sustain ourselves between now and then in order to realize those rewards.

That issue of time horizons that we use in evaluating things is worthy of further reflection. Visionary long-term analysis sometimes seems out of touch with the immediate problem of solving next month's fiscal challenge. Yet, without such a longer-term vision constantly re articulated, we would never have the vision to invest what was required to build and organization.

This summer I was in Europe and visited various castles and cathedrals which took centuries to build. The visionaries that started the projects had long passed on before the buildings were completed. Still, they did their part. As someone involved in various Christian organizations, I am conscious of the fact that short term objectives and goals can become more defining than the long-term vision. We need both. The short-term without the long-term vision results in an activism without direction; the long-term without the short-term results in worthy ideas that die a premature death. Thankfully in most organizations I am involved in, we are blessed with a healthy mix of people and skill sets that provide the range of perspectives, and time horizons of thinking, that provide for a healthy tension and, I think as a consequence, healthier organizations.