acknowledgments

Dozens of individuals have helped me make this book a reality. A number of colleagues took the time to read and comment on numerous chapters. I thank Professor Edgar Schein of MIT for several lengthy discussions and for his overall encouragement. My friend and colleague Professor Marc Anderson was very helpful as I developed the Timing of Dissent case. He also read parts of the manuscript with an eye toward improving its presentation. I thank Dean Sri Zaheer and Professors Aks Zaheer and Geoff Bell, of the University of Minnesota, with whom I coauthored articles on time and timing. Geoff helped articulate the relationship between timing and music. I thank Ann Waltner, the director of the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Minnesota, for a semester-long fellowship that allowed me to devote myself full-time to writing. I am grateful to Dean Thomas Fisher of the School of Design at the University of Minnesota for co-teaching an honors seminar focusing on temporal and spatial design. The opportunity to consider these two realms side by side was of great value.

I also thank Professors Ellen Langer and Herbert Kelman of the Department of Psychology at Harvard for arranging visiting scholar posts during two sabbaticals, and Professor Deborah Ancona for making it possible for me to be a visiting professor at the Sloan School at MIT, where I spent a wonderful and productive year.

I am grateful to Professor Dan Gilbert of Harvard University for suggesting the title When. I only wish that When had been ready earlier. Some things take longer than one thinks. It is no small irony that a book on timing happens to be late!

The office staff of the Strategy and Entrepreneurship Department at the University of Minnesota, Julie Cutting, Noelle French, and Kate Nelson, were always ready to lend a hand. They are the best office staff that one could ever hope for.

I also thank Professor Thomaz Wood of Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo, Brazil, and Professor Bertrand Moingeon of HEC in France for inviting me to talk about my work.

In addition, the International Society for the Study of Time, founded by the late J. T. Fraser, has been an intellectual home for more than twenty years.

I have worked with a number of companies and executives over the course of writing this book. I thank in particular Alex Cirillo of 3M for our monthly breakfasts. The discussion of each chapter greatly contributed to its clarity and usefulness in a business setting. I am grateful to Roger Raigna for his friendship and for an opportunity to consult with his company. Three executives were very helpful in developing my understanding of timing in different business settings: Jim Van Houten, former CEO of MSI Insurance; Dennis R. Costello, managing partner of Braemar Energy Ventures and former chief investment officer for North America at Advent International; and Michael Colson, VP of research and business development at Medtronic.

Mariam Kocharian was a wonderful research assistant, and as my music consultant she was instrumental in helping envision and play the New 21st Century World Symphony. I thank Natalie Roberts for creating the early drafts of some of the figures, and Erin Mason of First Street Design for the fine way she executed the graphics in this book and for her design suggestions. I am grateful for the feedback and support of this project provided by Amjad Habouch, a consultant and former student.

Without my current editor and collaborator, Jacqueline Murphy of Cottage Literary, this book would never have seen the light of day. From my perspective, our work together has been an ideal editorial collaboration. Her ability to simplify complex ideas and identify the best structure is unparalleled. Jacque is also my literary agent, and I am grateful that she was able to connect me with the excellent people at Jossey-Bass/Wiley.

I thank Genoveva Llosa, senior editor at Jossey-Bass, for being a strong advocate for the book and for encouraging me all along the way. I also acknowledge Clancy Drake and John Maas of Jossey-Bass. Clancy offered in-depth editorial advice that served to strengthen the book. John has been extremely supportive and ever helpful. Michele Jones did a superb job of copyediting.

I thank Janet Coleman for her editorial help and hospitality in the early days, when this book was more a gleam in my eye than anything else. Our discussions over lunch, dinner, and around the clock helped corral and shape the ideas at the core of book.

I also thank Erin Wigg for her help in coding and managing the database on which this book is based, and for responding to my many requests regarding bibliographical information. She has probably now memorized the location of every one of the three thousand books in my home library. I also acknowledge the assistance of Joe Scott and Clayton McClintock for their help in copyediting and to Alan Fine for his comments and feedback on the cover.

Jack Galloway was my editor during the early drafts. My work with Jack became a master class in the art of writing; this is still a work in progress. Jack's passionate defense of the legitimate needs of the reader, and his deep belief in the value of this book helped make the book possible. When I think of our long discussions, the “out-of-category climbs,” the struggle to find the right language for a particular section, I find myself thinking back to a few lines by the poet Czeslaw Milosz:

I also thank Lucy McCauley, editor and filmmaker, for her support of this project, as well as Joan Poritsky and Jacque Wiersma for their support and advice over the years. John Bryson and Barbara Crosby have been dear friends for decades. Their professional accomplishments have served as a model and inspiration to me. I also remember fondly the many dinners my wife and I had with Alan and Carol Bensman, when we talked about the ideas in this book.

I am particularly fortunate to have a wonderful family in Brazil. Clarice and José Abuleac and Suely and Thomas Hirschbruch have provided warmth, companionship, and laughter, and have been supportive of this work for many years. My late in-laws, Bernardo and Ella Daskal, provided love and a home away from home. I continue to miss them. I also thank Lucia Vicente for always asking, “How's the book coming?”

Thank you to my sister, Myra Albert, for her interest in my work and for insightful feedback on the cover. I also thank Robert and Kathy Mintz and Ginny and Steve Freid for their interest and enthusiasm for this project over the years.

Finally, I find myself at a loss for words in expressing my gratitude to my wife, Rosita, for a lifetime of love and support.

^†Unattainable Earth by Czeslaw Milosz and translated by Robert Hass. Copyright © 1986 by Czeslaw Milosz and Robert Hass. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.