Lead Time

So, I had gone to pick up a date. She stays in South Mumbai, and we had plans to go to a club in Bandra. It is approximately a half-hour drive. On the way, after talking for a bit we figured out that we had a lot in common. After getting acquainted really well during the cab ride, we reached our destination. Since the club was noisy and we’d hit it off, I asked if we could go to her place instead. She promptly agreed and we went back to her place. The Uber driver, though, requested us to book another cab.

Anyway, coming to the MBA concept of ‘Lead Time‘. Operations management teaches it as the time between starting and finishing production. For example, a manufacturer may take 2 weeks to 6 months to deliver a new car after receiving an order.

Toyota came up with the system of Just in Time (JIT) production. This means the wait time is zero. A JIT system has a car manufacturer keep low inventory and rely on its supply chain to deliver parts exactly when needed to build cars.

Use lead time in dating to mean the time from meeting a romantic interest to reaching your goal. So, supposedly you meet someone whose LTV  is high and you want to date them for a substantial time, the lead time is bound to be more. You would like to know that person better before getting into a long-term commitment with them. In India, arranged marriages through matrimonial apps usually take a couple of years to find the right person.

If you want a meaningful relationship, take ample lead time to know the person and gauge compatibility. Basing such a decision on the tags or the filtered life on social or the aesthetic appeal isn’t advisable. Small acts, like opening doors or how they treat waiters, reveal a lot. Take your time—no best deal is rushing away. If it runs away, it wasn’t meant to stick.

Although, in case you are seeking a casual encounter, JIT is the scenario. As highlighted in the dating matrix, if physical gratification is all you seek from someone, the lesser the small talk, the better. JITs can be the case of a one-night stand at a bar with someone you have just met. On dating apps that are inorganic by design and with easy ghosting, a number of guys express interest in a girl’s profile with the hope of a casual encounter. An insightful takeaway is that the aim in such a case should be to decrease the lead time and interact in person rather than over screens. Getting a kiss emoji in a text doesn’t mean much.

That brings me to the Uber story, it was quite close to JIT because both of us weren’t looking for anything serious. Once, I quickly bonded with a co-passenger during an ideal JIT Uberpool ride. In the context of small talk, we don’t even know each other’s names.

Later

Sidhant