When someone invites you for dinner at 6pm, at what time would you knock on that person’s door?

For British, the most adequate time to arrive would be 6pm, plus-minus  2-3 minutes. The same for someone from Poland. The most likely to arrive at the exact hour would be the German and the Chinese. Brasilian, on the other hand, would probably arrive half an hour late. In their country being on time is considered rude, as the host themselves is usually not ready.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that in various cultures the perception of time differs. Erin Meyer, the author of the book “The Culture Map” came up with an interesting concept: if we drew a horizontal straight line, at one end there would be a linear approach towards time. On the other, there would be a flexible one. 

What does that mean?

Linear perception of time is associated with:

👉 completing tasks one at a time

👉 being really attached to one’s schedule

👉 organizing every activity 

👉focusing on the deadline

The flexible approach comes with:

👉 unproblematic adjustment of priorities 

👉 multitasking

👉 ease of adapting to changing circumstances 

👉 flexibility

While doing business with foreign partners, it’s worth knowing where their country stands on the spectrum. 

Germans, who are used to planning months in advance and scheduling all the meetings, are situated at the end of the linear side. They might even take offence if there are difficulties in agreeing on the details of the encounter! 

Nigerians are on the opposite end. In their country, change is so constant that they mostly gave up on trying to schedule things.

Hungarians and Poles hold places more or less in the middle of the line, leaning towards a linear approach. They like to have everything planned but if something comes up unexpectedly, there shouldn’t be much of a problem.

In China, everything tends to happen immediately. Chinese people are well-known for being well-organized. However, the plans they make are usually flexible. They are willing to adjust to whatever comes up.