CONSUMPTION PATtERNS: NOW, SOON, LATER -- Part 5

 

               As we go through life, we encounter persons who are living in the NOW. Taking life as it is and making the most of it. This is frequent saying among youth. Others, generally older, are living in the SOON, planning and preparing for events. And some even live in the LATER , when things uncertain today maybe more certain LATER.

                Things happen in life. Some are happening NOW. Some happen in the near future. And some happen much later. We can try to control what is happening now because NOW is the present and the impact of the past. NOW is the result of events that happened and their consequences on our lives today. NOW is our Fate. If we can deal with NOW, we can begin to control SOON.

                SOON is the short time horizon when NOW is beginning to take form. SOON is the opening of the possibilities of the NOW.  It is open to choices, as much as it is open to fate. This is the universe we  live and operate in every day. The circumstances we face are the reality we accept. If this reality calls for actions, then we have the option of acting or not acting. If we have the option of acting, we also have the choice of what action we will take. It is like coming to a crossroad. You decide which way to go. The choice determines the path of your SOON.

               LATER is the future that becomes real as SOON becomes the NOW and NOW becomes the consequences of your past decisions. Life is the cycle of NOW, SOON, and LATER. It is the life cycle of the self, the individual. Reality for the individual, is the NOW of the moment. It is both the choices made and the consequences of all of the forces present at the time of the choice. These forces are the universe in which we are living, in which we are both aware and unaware.

                Those elements we are aware of, set the tone for how we approach and deal with the NOW. They are influenced by the NOW of others whom we encounter in the NOW and with the choice(s) we make in the NOW. The choices are based on the individual perceived needs, wants and desires of each member of the group. When these correlate for the members, we have a shared “culture”, or in Spicerian terms “a persistent culture”. When these do not correlate, we have a mob or crowd. If we take this as a model of the situation, we can see that our choices are determined by the situational context.

               The situational context is the correlation between our perception of what we might gain or lose in the situation and when that might happen. It determines our freedom of choice. We can envision a 3x3 matrix where freedom of choice is plotted against time.

                               NOW                    SOON                   LATER   

NEEDS

               --------------------------------------------------------------------

WANTS

              --------------------------------------------------------------------

DESIRES                                                                                         

              ---------------------------------------------------------------------

               We might expect that as we move from left to right that certainty diminishes, while as we move from top to bottom our freedom of choice increases, albeit it may not be the choice we make. This is like predicting the path of a hurricane, where the future course of the storm is projected as an ever- widening cone as current conditions are extrapolated into the future. This establishes a zone of probability and allows managers (among others) to plan for future contingencies. When applied to human behavior, we need to know both status and roles of the key players and the strength of those bonds.

               The strength of the bonds is measured by formal and informal relationships between the actors and the powers assigned to the actors. The former is determined by the scope of the interactions between the parties, i.e. where is the line drawn between official and the social relationships? And the latter by the formal power assigned to status. Put another way, how much freedom does the individual have to make a choice and how much is assigned to or delegated to the status/role?

               The more structured the status/roles are and integrated into a coordinated system the more “sociological” the structure is to perform the prescribed actions assigned to the position. That is, the actions and sequence are “programmed” into the system and the individual will be evaluated for his/her performance of the program, rather than their idiosyncratic solution to the problem. This is often referred to as a “bureaucratic” performance and normally established, by law or policy. This generally found in government programs or agencies. But also found in older and larger private organizations. It reflects both an aging of the organization and smoothing out of rights and responsibilities of the organizational units, especially in reference to their place within a larger structure.

               In a “private” organization, there is a much wider scope of action in the early stages of development where solving the problem is valued more than simply adhering to the rules. In a free capitalistic society this is the source of tension, for fairness – the government should act according to the law, rules established and enforced equally and fairly in reference to all parties. Yet, the organizations established under a capitalistic model depend upon and are encouraged to seek out opportunity in the production, assembly, distribution and marketing of products that serve a basic need of the public (or a public). This means finding unorganized or underexploited areas of activity, more efficient means for doing the activity, or more market focused activity.

               This is outlined in the elements of the organizational life cycle, e.g. Adize. The burden on management is to grow the business or activity to a point of where it is self-sustaining and yet adaptable to the changing environment. And to maintain this posture is the NOW and SOON while planning for the LATER.

               It is the test that time and nature have created for all the natural world. Humans and Human Institutions are exempt from these tests, as human history will attest.