You might have an appointment with someone who ends up not showing because of a “last minute” change, and that would be all right in some societies.
But in Japan, it seems they don’t believe in “last minute surprises”. Reliability and punctuality are key. You can synchronise your watch with the bus or a train pulling at the scheduled 6.23am, and not 6.20am or 6.25am, for instance.
No wonder then Japan comes at the top of societies that are time-sensitive alongside Germany and Switzerland. Keeping time in this Asian country means money and maintaining etiquette. Punctuality is a basic, as much the norm as greeting a person with a bow.
So when time is treated like money, it can be saved and lost. Economists say punctuality is ‘one important positive cultural characteristic for development’.
“Countries that value a slow pace, a leisurely lifestyle, need to be aware of the real possibility that keeping this [in and of itself desirable] characteristic may slow their rate of economic development, or reduce their chances of sustained development, or even preclude their long-term development,” wrote William Di Pietro of Daemen College in the US, in a paper on punctuality and economic performance.
Let us try to place these words in the context of Japan. The country was destroyed in World War II. But within a few decades, it was there among the top economies. Today, with a GDP of $4,6 trillion, Japan is the third largest individual economy after the US and China.
The Japanese themselves know how punctual they are. A 10-minute delay means something went wrong other than a traffic jam.
Some time in the recent past, a press conference by a top-ranking Japanese official was scheduled to take place in one of the Arab cities. I don’t remember the name of the official or the conference topic, but I still recall as if it was yesterday, when one of his aides came over to announce a delay for the press meet because of a longer-than-expected meeting with the head of state of the country he is visiting.
“It is delayed for a few minutes and — hopefully — within 10 minutes the press conference will start,” the aide said. And it did. Before the 10 minutes were up, the Japanese official was on his way to the podium.
Unfortunately, a few minutes delay is not a big deal in the region. But these can take up to more than an hour.
May be it is about time for us in the emerging markets to change our view of time, to appreciate our time and to show respect to others’. It is one way to be ahead of others.
