Wait: The Art and Science of Delay by Frank Partnoy has been a wonderful read. With American culture based on “immediate everything” is there any reason to pause? Yes in fact Frank illustrates why delay means a lot to us. Are we as aware of the decision making errors we make in rapid response?
A return of serve in professional tennis is all about rapid response. With end-lines 78 feet apart a tennis player has almost 500 milliseconds to respond. Has this rapid response been ingrained into our culture? Probably, and we need to change this.
The opening two chapters of Wait address how we regard making decisions on rapid response. Frank provides valuable insights that rapid response actually robs us of wise decision making. There is a lot we can learn from the opportunity of delay. Wait refers at many points the impact of Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking Fast and Slow, the ground breaking research with Amos Tversky.
Kahneman won the noble prize in economics for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty. Wait builds upon the impact of delays in decision-making.
Chapter three: “High-Frequency Trading, Fast and Slow” is the story of UNX Inc, a trading firm in California. The ability of Wall Street to trade stocks between 8 to 14 milliseconds is fascinating. Yet Frank reveals the opportunity by UNX to save a lot of money by actually slowing down their trading. Sounds odd but proves to be true. Again the insights to Thinking Fast and Slow are remarkable. High frequency trading was the subject of Michael Lewis’ amazing book Flash Boys.
Chapter seven: Don’t Panic addressed our perception of time. Franks describes (in amazing and somewhat excruciating detail) the Miracle at the Meadowlands. For fans of the NY Giants, this will be a very painful chapter:
Frank’s story of Bob Gibson, the long time football coach and his inability to master a moment of delay that quickly cost him his job. Quarterback Joe Pisarcik and his coach had a less than warm relationship. This contributed to the error and shows the details leading up to the fumble.
Wait reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink. Good lessons from Gladwell play out very well here. Partnoy could do well by studying the rapid response of players and coaches in post-game press conferences and interviews. They say some of the stupidest things because … they do not delay and consider the impact of their response.
An aspect of dating can best be related the art of delay. Chapter eight, First Dates and Fighters Pilots describes the approach taken by Its Just Lunch, a dating website far different than larger, more popular websites. Addressing research outcomes and behavior science, photos and videos are actually wrong for our American culture of immediate everything. This company has an approach of using time (brief lunch dates) as a more accurate, measurable way to establishing a lasting relationship.
When to Eat Crow, the topic of chapter nine outlines a well researched and very interesting timeframe when you should apologize … for anything. Well worth reading the book alone. Yet Frank delivers just one of many chapters providing great insights to the impact of delay.
University of San Diego School of Business “Wait: The Art and Science of Delay”
GOVERNINGWorks Interviews: Frank Partnoy