Time is money. We’ve all heard that phrase. It originated with a fifth-century B.C. Greek politician by the name of Antiphon. Ben Franklin is often given credit for the phrase in a speech he gave. But the actual translation of the phrase into business practice is a credit to Frederick Taylor and the husband/wife team of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. They originated what we now call Industrial Engineering.
Industrial Engineers have a history of reducing the time to produce goods and services, and thus reduce their costs. They show organizations how to place a monetary value on time. As a Professor of Industrial Engineering, I have taught students how to do this. But I think there is another aspect to the evaluation of time that is important to teach. I would like to share some questions I ask our students.
- How do you place a value on the time it takes to send a note of thanks to someone who has been especially helpful to you?
- How do you place a value on the time it takes to reach out to someone who seems to be struggling?
- How do you place a value on the time it takes to reflect on your experience so that you can improve your performance?
- How do you place a value on the time it takes to teach/mentor someone on a life skill that you have learned?
- How do you place a value on the time it takes to update someone from your past about how you are doing?
- How do you place a value on the time it takes to compliment others on something they did well?
- How do you place a value on the time it takes to update someone on how you used the advice/guidance they gave you?
- How do you place a value on the time it takes to provide encouragement to someone who is especially anxious about a situation?
- How do you place a value on the time it takes to be a decent human being who genuinely cares and supports others?
As much of the world is taking a pause from our busy lives to deal with the COVID-19 virus, this may be a good time to reflect on the above questions. Of course, we can’t place a value on the time it takes to do these things. But one thing we can say is that the time it takes to do these things might be the most valuable thing we can do for others and ourselves during this very troubling crisis we all are going through.
There is a theory that habits are formed by doing an activity on a regular basis for an extended period of time. Could this be a good time for each of us to think about how we can reach out to others? Maybe this will become a habit for each of us.
* * *
Just imagine how our world could benefit from a virus of the sharing of kindness to others.