Is information lag causing challenges for your enterprise?  Social sector organizations often rely on their Annual Report to summarize a year’s worth of success but some information is already over 300-days old.  Quarterly investment reports provide insights to market trends that may have been relevant two-months ago.  Sports talk shows debate the past weekend games with the certainty of a poker player competing against an opponent who tips their hand.  We reboot our devices when the audio and visual imagine are mere fractions of a second out of synch.  We hang-up and restart conference calls when the audio has an echo or delay.  We consider passing another vehicle that is not moving with the flow of traffic.

Lag gets attention.  It can inspire (a day in the wilderness with no technology) or infuriate (slow airline check-in kiosk when running late for a flight).  Lag can be powerful.  Historical events come into focus over time, Impressionist painter’s work is now admired more fervently, and scientific trends can be reinforced with additional data points over time.  Lag can be costly.  Not having the real-time information as the other decision-makers, soliciting for a contribution with anecdotes from prior years, or asking for help one step too late.

Employ lag to your benefit, instead of relying on tradition to dictate its application.