When: The Art of Perfect Timing

seven

Using the Lenses

The Timing of Dissent

A “No” uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a “Yes” merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.

—Mahatma Gandhi¹

The first step in conducting a timing analysis is to learn to see the world through each of the six lenses described in the previous chapters. Doing so can bring into clear focus what is wrong in a situation and how it can be corrected.

Let me give you an example. It's the story of a small pharmaceutical company. A meeting has been called to decide whether to go ahead with marketing the company's new weight-reducing drug, Biritonin. As a participant in the meeting, you are painfully aware that a bad decision is about to be made. You know it is likely to end in disaster, ...