This was the biggest culture shock for me coming from military aviation to software. In the former, a brief starts exactly on time, down to the second. "5-4-3-2-1-hack. Time is 0800."

I think I'd get tarred and feathered if I did that at my company.

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WalterBright 7 days ago | parent | next [-]

> I think I'd get tarred and feathered if I did that at my company.

The problem with it is the boss. Too many bosses show their dominance by how much they can force underlings to wait for them. The boss is quite capable of starting the meetings on time, and the rest will work out.

I do the same thing with chronically late people. I simply don't wait for them. The problem resolves itself.

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exmadscientist 7 days ago | parent [-]

I've also done this. Back when I used to teach, all I had to do to get students to be on time was to start on time myself, and close the classroom door. (I think they locked automatically, so students had to knock to be let in, but that wasn't the point. I never gave them any grief, just let them in with as small an interruption as I could manage.)

I have never had a more punctual group of people that large. It works.

	▲	WalterBright 7 days ago \| parent [-]
		One thing about human nature that I rarely see mentioned is people tend to behave as you expect them to. If you expect them to be honest, they'll be honest. If you expect them to be thieves, they'll be thieves. If you expect them to be on time, they'll be on time. And so on. (Of course there are exceptions.)

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1241231241 7 days ago | parent | prev [-]

This is being "fashionably" late, you assert social status by being late.

	▲	WalterBright 7 days ago \| parent [-]
		If I'm going to be late for a social occasion, I'll text the host.