{"id":71,"date":"2020-06-06T21:40:04","date_gmt":"2020-06-06T21:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatisculture.org\/?page_id=71"},"modified":"2020-07-22T20:05:01","modified_gmt":"2020-07-22T20:05:01","slug":"scheduling-linear-vs-flexible","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/whatisculture.org\/?page_id=71","title":{"rendered":"Scheduling: Linear vs. Flexible"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Erin Meyer uses the terms linear<\/em> and flexible<\/em> when describing how people in different cultures approach time and scheduling. Edward T. Hall<\/a>, a well-known anthropologist and culture scholar, describes the differences in time orientation as polychronic (p-time) cultures vs. monochronic (m-time) cultures. M-time cultures view time as tangible and concrete. Scheduling is used as a classification system that orders life. P-time cultures, on the other hand, adhere to a flexible approach to time, involvement of people, and completion of transactions. In P-time cultures, a more general, approximate time to meet is suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can see a cultural approach to clocks: some cultures measure time in 5 minute intervals, while others barely use clocks and schedule on \u201cevent time\u201d (before lunch, after sunrise, etc.). In the following video, Sana Reynolds, an international business consultant and instructor at Baruch College, discusses how different cultures view the role of time in society, our ability to control it (or lack thereof), and the way these perspectives show up in common proverbs and expressions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n