The mission, the people and the social responsibilities of the enterprise are the three primary tasks that are the beginning and the end of managers and executive alike. However, in order for every action or inaction to occur, balancing time in the short term and long term needs to happen in order to be effective. A manager must look at the present and the future capabilities of the company and make sure the present and future balance accordingly without one overpowering the other. Effective management of these “dimensions” in time ensures the business thrives in the future.

Time is the only constant that cannot be adjusted by any means. What can change and be adjusted is the management of time and the management of resources in the present and future. With the continuous evolution of businesses and the environment around them, it is not enough for an executive just to be focused on short term results or short term profits. Immediate layoffs, changes in management structure, changes in pay structure or product selection with no long term outlook can mean wasted capital, wasted resources and most importantly the resource you cannot re-build: time. The executives today achieving short term gains without holding the responsibility of the enterprise’s future is just burning capital instead of investing it to produce longer term gains. The “Future” dimension of time also works in reverse, an executive focused too much on planning for the future in effect suffering from “analysis paralysis” and not impacting her business positively and effectively today is also setting themselves for potential failure. A synergy between making an impact in the present, and making an impact in planning the future help the executive to steer and drive the enterprise in the right direction.

For the executives and managers that wish to completely take their company into a different direction, the disparity between the present and future increase, and it takes even more effort and planning today in order to achieve the drastic change and establish wealth-producing resources for tomorrow as the jump over the gap is farther.