When I visited the Ivory Coast in West Africa during my college years, I had what I guess is a fairly typical lesson in cultural norms regarding time. I stayed with a missionary family and they took me all around the city of Abidjan. First we went to the bank to exchange some of my travelers checks. The official time for the bank to open was 9AM, but we didn't arrive until 10. There was a long line, and the bank wasn't yet open. I recall it opened about 10:30, but we didn't get up to the front of the line until 11:30. We walked out with my Ivorian Francs around noon.
It went pretty much like that the whole trip. Scheduled times and actual start times were different...usually off by 1-2 hours. At first, it made me really nervous. I kept feeling like I was late to everything. But I was in the country for 6 weeks...by the third week I had absorbed the Ivorian culture norm of lateness. Frankly, it was a big relief to just relax and not worry about being right on time to everything, especially since nobody around me cared about it.
But when I returned to the US, I was able to compare and contrast the two views of timeliness. I saw that timeliness represents more than being somewhere on time. And so ever since that trip, I've included timeliness as one of my personal core values, and I'd like to make it a Crossroads Creative Team value as well.
In our culture, being on time is important. Kids have to get to school on time. Adults have to get to work on time. We make dentist appointments and dinner reservations. Being late for a movie means missing the beginning of it (or at least the trailers!).
So why should we be a team that values being on time? First, when we show up to a rehearsal or performance on time, we are making a value statement. We are demonstrating with our actions that the rehearsal or the performance is of value to us. Since we are engaged in the process of "restoring God's design in all people" (Crossroad's vision statement) I think we can agree that what we are doing is important. Secondly, being on time honors everyone else on the team. It's like saying to everyone, "I know your time is just a valuable as mine, so I won't waste it." Actually, I think starting and ending on time builds trust and faithfulness, and strengthens a team.
I can hear the questions popping into my head as I write this- are you saying we have a problem with time? Are you going to somehow punish latecomers? What about when I have to work late, or my alarm doesn't go off?
Just relax- we need to have enough Ivorian sensibility to give grace to each other. Life happens. Schedules are full.
In these first postings I'm not trying to address problems, I'm trying to establish a team culture. I think we should have a culture of timeliness. Let's honor each other by being on time to rehearsals and performances. It will only increase our excellence and our fun! If we are going to be more than 5 minutes late for whatever reason, let your team leader know with a quick text or phone call. And when we forget...when the boss makes us work late...when the alarm fails...lets not freak out. I know I won't be.
So glad to be on this journey with you all. Your friend in time, JIM
(wish I had one of these, don't you?!)
Questions for discussion:
-specifically how will being on time increase our overall excellence and fun?
-have you ever been to another country and experienced a different cultural norm regarding time?
BTW- if you want to know who to text if you are running late, I added a handy note in planning center online for each service plan. It's below the schedule on the left column in the web version, or tap "notes" under "times" in the mobile app version. Just make sure you check to see which one of us is your team leader that particular week! (thanks Greg Lane for bringing this to my attention!).
