short-termism
Prioritizing quick returns
Short-termism is the tendency to prioritize immediate results over long-term outcomes.
The term usually carries disapproval, criticizing decisions that sacrifice future stability for present gains: Corporate short-termism leads to cutting R&D budgets to meet quarterly targets.
The concept appears frequently in discussions of business strategy, investment, and policy-making.
Intolerance of delay
- impulsiveActing without deliberation
- myopiaBlurry distance vision
- immediacyQuality of being direct
- restlessnessState of unease
haste · expedience · reactive
Cannot be maintained indefinitely
- recklessCarelessly ignoring danger
- narrowOf small width
- penny-wiseFrugal in minor matters
- underinvestmentInadequate allocation of resources
Reducing expenditures deliberately
- dividendsProfits paid to shareholders
- layoffsMass job eliminations
- outsourcingThird-party task delegation
- restructuringRearranging an existing framework
Systematic opinion gathering
- populismPolitics favoring ordinary citizens
- pork-barrelSelf-serving legislative spending
- soundbiteBrief broadcast excerpt
- reactionaryAnti-progress political stance
impatience
Intolerance of delay
restlessness · haste · expedience · reactive
unsustainable
Cannot be maintained indefinitely
- recklessCarelessly ignoring danger
- narrowOf small width
- penny-wiseFrugal in minor matters
cost-cutting
Reducing expenditures deliberately
- dividendsProfits paid to shareholders
- layoffsMass job eliminations
- outsourcingThird-party task delegation
polling
Systematic opinion gathering
- populismPolitics favoring ordinary citizens
- pork-barrelSelf-serving legislative spending
- soundbiteBrief broadcast excerpt
- cognitive biasesconfirmation bias, anchoring bias, negativity bias, framing effect, optimism bias
- shortsightednessmyopia, tunnel vision
short-termismlong-term thinking
Planning beyond immediate concerns
long-range planning · long-termism · far-sightedness · strategic planning · foresight
short-termismsustainability
Capacity to endure indefinitely
stewardship · value investing · conservation · custodianship · environmental responsibility
short, shorten, shortly, shortcut, shortness, shortened, shortening, short-term, shortbread