How Different Cultures View the Future

In the linear-active, industrialized Western cultures time is seen as a road along which we proceed. Life is sometimes referred to as a “journey”; death is often referred to as the “end of the road.” We imagine ourselves as having traveled along the part of the road that is behind us (the past) and we see the untrodden path of the future stretching out in front of us.

Linear-oriented people do not regard the future as entirely unknowable for they have already nudged it along certain channels by meticulous planning. American executives, with their quarterly forecasts, will tell you how much money they are going to make in the next three months. The Swiss stationmaster will assure you, without any hesitation, that the train from Zurich to Luzern will leave at 9:03 tomorrow morning and arrive at exactly 10:05. He is probably right, too. Watches, calendars and computers are devices that not only encourage punctuality but also get us into the habit of working toward targets and deadlines. In a sense, we are “making the future happen.” We cannot know everything(it would be disastrous for horse racing and detective stories), but we eliminate future unknowns to the best of our ability. Our personal programming tells us that over the next year we are going to get up at certain times, work so many hours, take vacations for designated periods, play tennis on Saturday mornings and pay our taxes on fixed dates.

Cyclic time is not seen as a straight road leading from our feet to the horizon, but as a curved one which in one year’s time will lead us through “scenery” and conditions very similar to what we experience at the present moment. Observers of cyclic time are less disciplined in their planning of the future, since they believe that it cannot be managed and that humans make life easier for themselves by “harmonizing” with the laws and cyclic events of nature. Yet in such cultures a general form of planning is still possible, for many things are fairly regular and well understood.

Cultures observing both linear and cyclic concepts of time see the past as something we have put behind us and the future as something that lies before us.

In Madagascar, the opposite is the case. By contrast, the Malagasy consider the future unknowable. It is behind their head where they do not have eyes. Their plans for this unknown area will be far from meticulous, for what can they be based on? Buses in Madagascar leave not according to a predetermined timetable, but when the bus is full. The situation triggers the event. Not only does this make economic sense, but it is also the time that most passengers have chosen to leave. Consequently, in Madagascar stocks are not replenished until shelves are empty, filling stations order gas only when they run dry, and hordes of would-be passengers at the airport find that, in spite of their tickets, in reality everybody is wait-listed. The actual assignation of seats takes place between the opening of the check-in desk and the (eventual) departure of the plane.

 

This table summarizes peculiar features of different time-oriented cultures:

 

Linear Time	Flexible Time	Cyclical Time
Views time as an entity to be saved, spent, or wasted	Views time as fluid and flexible	Views time as circular and repetitive
Completes tasks sequentially	Works on multiple tasks simultaneously	Makes decisions and completes tasks over a long period of contemplation and reflection
Focuses on the task to be completed within a certain time frame	Focuses on and nurtures the relationships represented by the tasks	Focuses on the long term in tasks and relationships
Separates work from family and social life	Views work, family, and social life as one	Sees connections and interrelatedness in people and events
Seeks to control time by maintaining a rigid appointment schedule	Reacts as the day’s events evolve	Believes that life controls time
Focuses on the future	Focuses on the present	Focuses on the past
Cultures such as Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, and Scandinavian. Countries such as Great Britain, the United States, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and the Scandinavian countries	Southern Europeans, Mediterranean-bordering cultures (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Arabia, Turkey), Mongolia, the Philippines, and South American cultures	African cultures, China, Japan, Korea, Native Americans including Inuits

 

(adapted from: Victor, 1992, p. 234 as presented by Dahl)

Conclusion

Communication is more than the exchange of words. It is cultural; it is interactive. It draws on how we learned to speak and give non-verbal cues (LeBaron, 2003). As today’s workplace rapidly changes as the business environment expands to include various geographic locations and numerous cultures, learning to communicate and transact business across cultural boundaries is paramount.