Business Exposed56
“Time compression diseconomies” – too much, too
fast
The race to become big always reminds me of the cello lessons I had
as a young boy. Let me explain: I started playing the cello when I
was nine. And ever since, I have worried about time compression
diseconomies. Yes, really. At the time, I didn’t know they were
called time compression diseconomies, but I did worry about them.
I used to have cello lessons on Saturday morning. I would play a
certain piece in front of my teacher and then she would give me
a new piece to practice for the next week.
Some weeks, I practiced for half an hour on Sunday, then half
an hour on Monday, the same on Tuesday, etc., so by my next
lesson, I would have practiced for a total of three hours (6 days;
half an hour each). And I would usually be able to play the piece
in front of my teacher reasonably well.
Some weeks, however, I did not practice on Sunday because I
was out playing football. On Monday, I was at Boy Scouts, on
Tuesday playing at a friend’s house, on Wednesday I forgot about
it altogether, and so on. By the time it was Friday, I would realize,
“Oops, it’s my cello lesson tomorrow, and I haven’t practiced at
all yet!”
What then I would usually do is think, “I will just practice for
three hours in a row now; that’s the same amount of time as half
an hour each day for six days, and I am sure I will be ne.” But
I never was. It never worked. The noises coming out of my cello
would be outright terrifying, reducing innocent passers-by to
tears, with my teacher’s ears (and mine) hurting for hours after
she’d hastily sent me away.
And I wondered, as a nine-year-old, how is that possible? Three
hours is three hours, right? Why does this not work: three hours
on Friday instead of half an hour each day for six days in a row?
Of course, as adults, we realize that our brain needs rest in
between practice sessions. It needs to recuperate before you can
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