Saturday, October 29, 2011

Watching Your Time

I watched the recent film release (today in the USA) ‘In Time’ this afternoon, and it is a sci-fi thriller that stars Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. Olivia Wilde (Tron 2: Legacy) has a cameo as Justin’s screen mother.

In the future, time becomes the currency and commodity of trade. Time is money, and vice versa. Genetically-modified humans live until 25 years, upon which they are giving an expiry date of one more year unless they retro-add to this dwindling time-bank. The wealthy can live to immortality, and the poor exist as part of population control/social genocide who may have to work extremely hard, rob, or borrow from banks (at high premiums). This is the story of how one working class/poor person’s inheritance of one century alters his life, and that of others. Imagine a cup of coffee costs 4 minutes, and a bus ride costs 2 hours of your life!

This film is watchable, mostly for its concept of time as a currency of life; and also for its pacing. In one scene, a comparison is made: Judging by the way you were running, you are not from around here! The wealthy (in time) take their time to eat, move and pass their day. Poor people in poverty-stricken sectors (ghettos) have to hopefully seek handouts for ‘another day’. In terms of plot, it is a rehash of Bonnie & Clyde, with a Robin Hood plot, set in a futuristic context.

I conclude that, many sayings in our language do not make real sense, and only in the weak abstract sense. Making time, investing in the time, save time, living on borrowed time – these are popular references to time. We can call for a timeout, yet time keeps moving along, never to be recovered. We cannot make up for lost time, so we need to seriously review how we spend or waste it. Instead of managing time, why not lead with your time?

Leadership Lessons: Do you subscribe to the notion of ‘time is money’? If so, how do you apply that in your life? How much do you value your time? When engaging consultants and experts, how do you perceive the value of their time? How do you utilize your time? How do you respect another person’s time?

1 comment:

mathew said...

Thanks for this blog keep sharing your thoughts like this...
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