Things that happen: Part 1 - Timing

Events simply happen, with little thought on their part to the impact. This is a fact of life, and one which certainly keeps things interesting for us all!

But events on their own are simply things that happen, it is the IMPACT of the events which is important. The impact is key and this can be significantly altered dependent on three things: 1) the timing of the event, 2) the context of the event and 3) the reaction to the event.

So I thought I'd do a little mini-series looking at these three things and, probably more importantly, the interaction between them. No idea how it'll go so bear with me if you can!

So then, Timing. 

You often hear the phrase "Timing is Everything". And, like all cliches, the reason you often hear it is because it is often correct. The timing of an event/incident is of critical importance to its impact.

The impact of the arrival of an unexpected bill for example may depend critically on whether you have just been paid. Timing.

Say I am at work and a calculation I have done needs to be re-checked. This is a vastly different scenario dependent on whether it needs to be issued today or in a month. Timing.

Those of you who know about the Buncefield Fire will appreciate the importance of timing in this incident. A series of explosions and their resulting fires caused signficant damage to 20 large fuel tanks as well as numerous buildings on site. There were no deaths and only 2 significant injuries. Why? The event occured at 6am in the morning so the site was mainly uninhabited. Timing.

So it becomes very apparent, very quickly, that the impact of an event is crucially and fundamentally dependent on the timing of the event itself. And this becomes important in managing these events and limiting these impacts. You often can't do anything about the event itself, it'll happen regardless. But you CAN influence its impact if you can control the timing of it, or at least understand the importance of the timing and put steps in to mitigate.

Often I feel we channel our energies in the wrong place when it comes to events. Instead of trying to stop them happening, sometimes (and I stress SOMETIMES) the trick might be to accept that it will happen and put the steps in place to limit the impact by controlling/understanding the timing.

But on the other side of the coin, I know it often isn't that simple. Timing is critical but it can also be heavily linked to the context of an event too. Take, for example, football and the oft-stated phrase "a good time to score". This is implying that (although all goals are worth the same) the timing of a goal is a critical factor in its importance. No doubt this is true in some situations, but the context is important too. A last minute penalty is worth a bit more at 0-0 in a World Cup Final than at 3-0 down versus the Dog and Duck on a Sunday.

So the interaction between timing and context is important here, and this is something I want to touch on in a bit more depth in a later part of this series. Tomorrow I will look at the second factor which can determine the impact of an event, the Context. Hopefully enough of you will be back!

Till next time (no pun intended),
DT