Punctuality

Punctuality In my experience the issue of punctuality divides people into three groups: Those who are never punctual, those who are always punctual, and those who are situationally punctual. People who are never on time are sometimes mislabeled inconsiderate. Careful observation will show that in reality these people suffer from a common ailment called time-impairment. They’re on a different clock. Or, they’re not on a clock at all. I have been told that this is a latitudinal, not attitudinal, issue. On this theory, some cultures, typically those in the southern latitudes of any land mass, orient to relationships, transactions, and experiences -- not time -- as the markers of when meetings and activities begin and end. Those with this orientation eventually meet their commitments in a fulsome manner but may find themselves labeled by family, friends, and co-workers as selfish, rude, developmentally delayed -- or worse -- in need of time management training. Those who are always punctual appear to epitomize consideration and respect for others but actually suffer from a benign, though degenerative, form of a heretofore unnamed obsessive compulsive disorder that for discussion purposes we’ll call OCD-P. Folks in this group typically progress over their lives from punctuality to hyper-punctuality (earliness or OCD-HP), and in some cases to a rare and exotic form of the disorder in which they actually arrive early multiple times for the same appointment. When these multiple early arrivals begin in prior calendar days, these afflicted souls progress into a diagnosis we are tentatively calling ‘Bench Syndrome’ which is named for the over-eager athlete who continually pesters the coach with ‘Now coach? Now?’ We’re not naming any names here, but you know who you are. Those who are situationally punctual are in some ways the most interesting of our three groups. They do not suffer from a readily apparent compulsion or impairment. We believe we can attribute intention to these colleagues, bosses, and friends. They understand time. They even know what time it is. They appear to make choices about where to be and when. When these individuals are late for your meeting, it is because they thought something else was more important. They bruise our feelings, but in some ways we admire them. They’re savvy. They appear to be calculating power relationships and priorities in realtime and dynamically adjusting their calendars and locations based on the situation at-hand, not some silly commitments and expectations that are set weeks in advance and on which sometimes dozens of others depend to get their work done. Not that I’m bitter. Now that we have our punctuality cohorts laid out, we can apply this model to our everyday experience. First of all, the impact of being in relationships with people from these groups varies depending on what we call in business, ‘level.’ Do they work for you, are they peers, or are they higher in the organization? Because we have three groups (one of which you’re in and one of which the other people are in) and three potential relationships (higher, same, lower), this becomes a three-dimensional model that would

Stan Dolberg 617-283-6250 [email protected]

require a book-length treatment to fully discuss. We don’t have time for that. We’ll cherry-pick some examples to get you on your way. Clearly, when someone who is time-impaired works for you it’s maddening. They’re never where they’re supposed to be, and as their manager you’re responsible! You find yourself sitting like a dunce for the weekly supervision meeting while they’re lost in time. You wonder if they’re living a better life, not caught up in the trivialities of being at a particular place at a particular time. But then when it comes time to map the succession plans in the organization it’s clear that time-orientation is a pretty big criterion for upward mobility. No show, no promo. If you’re always on time and you work for someone who is situationally punctual you’ve got a big problem. You feel disrespected on a regular basis, and worse, when you’re in a meeting run by him or her you become party to the shenanigans. Your staff meetings run over, meeting rooms are tied up to the great inconvenience of others, lunches are delayed, and presenters to his/her holiness are stacked up outside the door like planes over Logan at rush hour. When the lucky presenters are finally called in, 30 minutes late, you profusely thank them for their patience and you apologize, knowing that your boss will offer an at-best weak acknowledgement that harm had been done. Argh. When you and your colleagues are OCD-P (or OCD-HP) you’re really cruising. You can plan your day to the minute. You can seamlessly minuet through the day, spreading your knowledge and insight throughout the organization. You don’t have to stop and re-start meetings as stragglers arrive, pretending that you just started 10 seconds before so no harm done. You’re getting it done. Some things to think about as you apply this model. When you figure out that your friends are inviting you to dinner an hour earlier or later than everyone else, how should you take this? Without question, you should take this as an act of love and acceptance. Worry when you don’t get invited at all. A note of caution: Do not cross-check with friends on what time to arrive at dinner. This could introduce dissonance into the time/friendship continuum and mess everything up. There’s really nothing worse than dry chicken. Plus, you have to pretend it’s not dry. Don’t go there. We hope this discussion has been helpful. I trust we’ve laid the groundwork for a period of enlightened debate and research around time-based disabilities. It’s been a long, dark period since Einstein convinced everyone that time is relative.

Stan Dolberg 617-283-6250 [email protected]