How We Use Time
One thing that has become more apparent to me during my short time in Morocco is the way in which time is used. If you refer to the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) studies, you will notice projects where “similar” countries are grouped together and studied regarding the norms for each culture group. The United States falls in the “Anglo” culture group. Morocco, on the other hand, is grouped with the “Middle East” culture group. One point of difference between the two cultures is the value of performance/task orientation or relational orientation. In conjunction with this theme is the way time is used in each country. In my mind, time is related to performance/task completion. The United States is a monochronic country, whereas Morocco is a polychronic country. The orientation in the United States means that time and commitment to schedule is important. In Morocco, however, everything flows together. People here are less likely to maintain a strict schedule and are not committed to punctuality.
I am familiar with this practice of “relaxed time” or “being present” as the Latin American countries also have a polychronic approach to life, where I have spent a good deal of time. The changing schedules and plans, the go-with-the-flow mentality has not been of bother to me personally. This ideology also reminds me of a life-changing conversation I had with a Native American woman in Montana the summer of 2016. At the time, my best friend and I were camping and road-tripping throughout Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. My best friend is a planner. She needs everything scheduled, reservations made in advance, etc. When I travel, I am very much the opposite. I like to “go where the wind blows.” Needless to say, our differences in how to conduct our vacation caused a little friction. My friend admitted that not knowing where we would stay caused her anxiety in our conversation with this wise indigenous lady. The Native’s words were so profound to me, I actually have them inked on my skin now… “You will always find a place.” Simple, yet a powerful reminder to not worry about what is ahead. To me, this is comparable to being fully present in the moment with the experience and the people who are there. This is a practice Moroccans put more emphasis on rather than being productive, focusing on performance in a monochronic domain.
The most interesting or unusual thing for me regarding time on this trip, however, is the conversations I have had with peers about how I manage my own time. No doubt, I practice a very monochronic tone in working full-time, managing a farm (alone), working part-time, going back to school, participating in church activities, volunteering for other organizations, etc. I concentrate on my performance of tasks and use “tunnel vision” to get the most out of my time. I get hyper focused on goals at times. This way of life is “normal” for me. My life stays very scheduled, often a year in advance. Now, I question if that is not the norm for all Americans? Further, introspectively looking, I wonder if the reason I prefer the polychronic style while on vacation is due to the complete change in pace of what is important? I appreciate this way of time use, yet I do not practice it at home. Relationships are important to me, but I do not make time to just sit or visit with those people often enough. My grandparents were much better at this than I – we’ve lost a lot of that mentality in the United States, almost the sense of true community as well. Additionally, I am considering now if I my preference for time usage is strictly societal based? Is the domain in which I operate strictly culturally appropriate for me? Is it intrinsic or extrinsic? Or is the reason I love this type of travel and being in countries which operate this way is because it is more in line with my personal beliefs? Is this who I really am? Am I a polychromatic, relational person living in a monochronic, performance-based world?
Perhaps positive spillover from this trip will be for me to take more time to enjoy the people I love, sip on mint tea with friends, engage in more meaningful conversations with “strangers,” take a two-hour lunch breaks and simply bask in the sun. In other words, be more like the cat! I am pretty sure the cat enjoys a polychronic lifestyle! And he looks pretty proud of himself. I am sure if he could speak English, he would also remind me, “you will always find a place” to sleep, to eat, to makes new friends, to learn... Maybe there is more to life that getting the most tasks completed on a tight time schedule? Or is there?
Sites of Interest
I really loved reading your blog post! I also wrote about the use of time in my own posting and then as we were riding home from dinner tonight, Emmanuel and I were talking about polychronic culture and how when you go to another country you must use cultural competence and be not only accepting, but adaptive of the culture of the country you are visiting. After that conversation, I began to think a lot about my dad, who is very monochronic, and how he kept reiterating how relaxing and wonderful the culture of Argentina was when he visited last fall. He is always very upset when people are late for things in the United States and I wonder if that is more of a learned behavior than a personal belief. I started to think about whether or not he would be able to live in a culture like Morocco's or if it would drive him crazing not being so on-task and focused on business. My first reaction was, no, that he would probably lose it after a few weeks, but perhaps he would embrace the lifestyle as he did Argentina's. Maybe he is only so monochronic because his boss wants him to be and not because he, inherently, is. After thinking about this, I read you post and I am thinking that, yes, he would be able to adapt and change because his values are more aligned with being a hard worker and high performance employee than with being so detail oriented. If a hypothetical boss in Morocco wanted him to focus more on building relationships, I am sure he could adjust his priorities.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, it is more about being adaptive to other cultures, like Emmanuel said (and will probably post about in his own response to your post), and being adaptive in your own value system than it is about being inherently mono- or poly-chronic. I read that culturally competent and sensitive communication skills (that communicate values/beliefs surrounding time and time management) play more of a role in getting work done than being either relaxed or rigid with one's time (Giancarlo, 2009).
https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/everything-time-monochronism-polychronism-orientation-6902
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI love how you wrote this blog. Your explanations of your experiences and your thought-provoking questions really got me thinking as well about how they relate to my own life and the trip thus far. I too have noticed the polychronic culture of Morocco and wrote about it in my blog as well. Your post reminds me of the many times where even I would forget about the time and our "schedule" as we would spend quality time drinking mint tea with each other and the places we were visiting. I also remember how usually each Moroccan that we would respond to questions by completely stopping to speak and answer the questions (showing their focus on relationships rather than whatever else they were doing before). This aspect of Moroccan culture is so beautiful and important to me and it's something that I hope to make a habit of in the future. As Kristen Eberman (2012) writes in her Capstone Paper, the polychronic mindset opens the door for "personal interaction and building relationships with people of different cultures and faiths" allowing those involved to have an understanding view across cultures and religions. I definitely think this is something that Americans can appreciate and/or learn from Moroccans.