Riddle me this! What is something that ticks and has pointers? If you guessed a clock, you’re correct! 🕰️
Did you know that the clock is quite important in the U.S.? It’s also important in other cultures, like Germany, Norway, and Canada.
Why? Because the clock provides structure, allowing communities to function more efficiently. These places are known as time/task-oriented societies, where time helps them stay on track with their tasks and where saving any minute is valuable. In contrast, there are places known to be event-oriented, where cultures prioritize being present in the moment rather than saving time.
Sarah A. Lanier’s book, Foreign to Familiar, illustrates these cultural differences and how the majority of cultures can be divided into two groups: a task-oriented culture or an event-oriented culture. Since each group perceives time differently, conflict may arise when the two cross paths.
As said in our first post of this series, no one culture is better than the other; both cultures have things to offer and things to learn from one another. Since task-oriented cultures can be strict with their time, they might miss spontaneous opportunities for experiences and relationships; on the other hand, since event-oriented cultures can be too relaxed, they might run into more unexpected problems.
Indirect vs Direct Cultures 🔁
Remember our last blog post about direct and indirect cultures? If not, you may want to take a look here before continuing. As we learned, these different cultures have different communication styles, and adding the ingredient of time into the mix makes it even more noticeable. For the most part, direct cultures are task-oriented, while indirect cultures are event-oriented. As we’ve learned, indirect cultures focus on being friendly, avoiding anything that might be offensive; in contrast, direct cultures focus on clear and quick communication to stay within their timeframe.
The way in which you communicate informs your view of time. Lanier quotes,
“Indirect cultures have the reputation for always being late by the direct culture people, who are viewed as being neurotically time-oriented by their indirect culture friends” (p. 110).
Because direct cultures value their time, they want honest, straightforward communication in order to complete their tasks. That isn’t the case for indirect cultures, as they’ll put people and friendliness first, no matter how long it takes.
As seen in the last post, it’s sometimes hard to get the truth from those in indirect cultures (event-oriented), and a third party is usually necessary to uncover information. This process can be time-consuming, which may upset those in direct cultures (task-oriented). Although challenging, the two cultures must work together in order to come to an understanding.
Time Savers vs Time Users ⏱️
Have you ever heard the expression, “Time is money”? As mentioned earlier, people in task-oriented cultures value saving time, and this expression reflects it perfectly. Their focus is to be as efficient as possible, doing so by planning and organizing. Since they want to maximize their time and fit the most into their day, they’ll sometimes plan to the exact minute! In addition, times for meetings and events are taken seriously in task-oriented cultures, even for casual moments between friends.
What happens if you run late on your task-oriented friends?, you might ask.
Well, it could cause them frustration and a sense of disrespect, as it implies they’re not important enough for your time. So make sure to apologize and explain why you’re late (maybe you hit traffic or a previous meeting went over), as it shows respect for the person having to spend time waiting.
Sarah wrote about a different perspective on “being on time” in her book. While she was in Chile, meetings with her friend were never at the agreed-upon time; she’d have to wait about an hour more for her, which brought confusion and frustration. However, Sarah’s friend was event-oriented, meaning she didn’t believe she was late or thought she needed to apologize.
Sarah then understood that the agreed-upon time was when her friend would only begin getting ready to meet with her, rather than being the time of arrival. This shows how event-oriented cultures tend to go with the flow and aren’t pressed for time. Because they value experiencing the moment, they’re more likely to be spontaneous and willing to go off schedule, contrary to the orderly life of a task-oriented culture.
Take a look at an excerpt from Sarah’s book in which she gives an example of what a wedding would look like hosted by an event-oriented culture with task-oriented attendees:
The event is a wedding. The location is Jamaica, Zimbabwe, Colombia, or the Philippines (an event-oriented culture). The wedding is to be at 2:00 pm.
At 1:45 pm, four Norwegians and two Canadians show up to take their seats before the wedding starts. They find the church locked up and no one around… A bit worried that there really is to be a wedding, the (task-oriented) guests wait on the steps.
At 1:55, a group of women arrive with flowers, and they unlock the church and start decorating. A choirmaster comes in a few minutes later and starts getting out choir robes.
By 2:30, a few people arrive, hanging around and talking outside. The [task-oriented] guests have found seats by now and keep looking at their watches, becoming frustrated that the wedding is getting started late, and no one seems to care. What they don’t know is that at around two o’clock the bride started getting ready, the preacher started a meal with the groom’s parents, and a young man started his five-kilometer walk to the church. Stopped along the way by an old man, this young man takes as long as the old man wants to talk. It would have been dishonoring for him to tell the older man that he needed to hurry…
Around 3:45 pm, the bride and groom finally arrive, and the ceremony begins.
By six o’clock, the wedding feast is in full swing. This [event-oriented] wedding was an event, and the event began at 2:00 pm. That was when people stopped what they were doing and began wedding activities – getting the church decorated, entertaining the groom’s family, and washing the children to get them dressed up for the occasion.
(p. 111-113)
As I’m sure you can imagine, the task-oriented guests were very frustrated and probably very confused. Task-oriented cultures have an expectation for an event to begin at the time announced– with visiting, chatting, and “behind the scenes” work happening before or after the event. These task-oriented guests expected everything to be ready and prepared before 2:00, with everyone in their places and the bride ready to start down the aisle as soon as the clock struck 2:00. However, to the event-oriented people, the wedding did start at 2:00, it just began with all the activity and preparation for it! In an event-oriented culture, the wedding ceremony is only a small part of the event, not the event itself.
Spontaneous Hosts vs Planned Hosts 🗓️
Hosting looks different depending on the culture. For task-oriented cultures, hosting is usually formal, organized, and taken seriously. Preparations, such as cleaning and cooking, mostly happen before guests arrive; the host gives attention to detail, making sure everything’s in order. As a result, hospitality is considered to be a special occasion.
What would happen if I showed up unexpectedly at a task-oriented home?, you might ask.
Let’s just say it might not be the best thing to do. To show up unexpectedly in a task-oriented home could be disrespectful and overwhelming for the host. They might feel unprepared and disrupted in their intended schedule.
And what about in an event-oriented home?
Now that could be more acceptable! Being spontaneous is actually a part of their hospitality; it can happen at any given moment. Unexpectedly showing up is usually no problem for event-oriented hosts, as they’ll mold you into their days. As Sarah said in her book,
“Coming over will never interrupt them. They will continue cooking, playing with the kids, or watering the garden. You will just fit into whatever is going on at the moment” (p. 73).
They don’t care to clean or cook before you arrive and don’t need to necessarily spend alone time with those from task-oriented cultures. Hospitality to them means putting relationships first and setting time aside.
Let’s take the example of the young man in the wedding story earlier. He was “stopped along the way by an old man” and he took as long as the old man wanted to talk because “it would have been dishonoring for him to tell the older man that he needed to hurry.” The young man showed spontaneous hospitality to the older man; it was not planned and there was no set time when it would end. The young man simply took as much time as needed to talk to him, trying his best to cultivate a relationship.
Final Thoughts 💭
I’ve said it already and I’ll say it again: no one culture is better than the other! We can learn from both, taking the order of task-oriented cultures for greater productivity, while taking the free-spirited nature of event-oriented cultures for more significant experiences and relationships. It’s all about the balance, right?
How can you challenge your concept of time and try a time culture other than yours?
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