Time Perception and Designing Knowledge Strategies

The purpose of this chapter is to reveal the importance of time perception in designing knowledge and business strategies. Time is an intangible entity whose perception and understanding depend on the human metaphorical mind, body, and cultural embedding. A clock measures the physical time which is the same everywhere in this world. It is a linear time with equal units for everybody. However, there is also a psychological and biological time whose perception depends on each individual and his cultural roots. This time is nonlinear and interpreted by a given geographic, economic, social, and cultural environment. Therefore, the perception of time influences the decision-making process and the construction of business and knowledge strategies, representing a long-term thinking effort. The classical approach to designing business strategies is based on the perception that the future represents an extension of the present and that we go toward the future as we travel in space toward a certain destination. A strategic plan is just an extension of the managerial operational plan based on deterministic thinking. The future is not just an extension and any action in the future should be based on probabilistic thinking. The recent economic crises request a new approach based on time perception. Knowledge strategies should integrate both deliberate and emergent strategic dimensions.