Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?

– Eminem, Lose Yourself

What does it mean to recognize the decisive moment and not miss it? Spacetime punctuality is an idea for a new understanding of commitment.

Unpunctuality in everyday life – a clear signal

Who hasn’t experienced those memorable moments when a friend is repeatedly late for an appointment – with no apparent insight into their own unpunctuality or consideration for the effect of their behavior. Such moments send a clear signal: the mutually agreed time seems to be of secondary importance.

You also encounter experts like this in a professional context. A fleeting apology, barely uttered, is immediately overrun by the next item on the agenda – after all, time is money. This overlooks the fact that every delay is a breach of commitment and therefore also a risk to trust, effectiveness and efficiency in collaboration.

Tardiness is not a harmless oversight, but often a recurring pattern that puts a strain on relationships – both private and professional.

Punctuality as an expression of respect

Punctuality was a virtue in my childhood – a promise that you kept, supported by a healthy dose of middle-class morality. Today, I see it as an expression of commitment, as a clear “yes” to an agreement. It is a sign of respect – for the time, freedom and self-determination of my counterpart.

Space-time punctuality: more than just discipline

I would like to expand the concept of punctuality – inspired by Einstein’s spacetime and Eminem’s Lose Yourself – to spacetime punctuality. While classic punctuality is often understood as a moral imperative to appear at the agreed time, spacetime punctuality goes further: it is about consciously appearing at a certain moment, in a certain place, in order to create something together. An event that can only succeed in this time slot with everyone involved. If someone is missing, the project fails.

Punctuality thus becomes a commitment – far beyond a Prussian understanding of discipline.

The silent decision of the latecomers

Just imagine: The priest doesn’t show up for the wedding, the national team player is missing the kick-off of the final, the surgeon misses the transplant. Unimaginable? And yet it is surprisingly accepted in everyday life when people are late for private or business appointments. The same people would be on time for a wedding, final or operation – because it is important to them.

And this is exactly what makes the behavior so unpleasant: latecomers weigh up – consciously or unconsciously – and make a decision about the importance, consequences and tolerance of their counterparts. Tardiness is often an expression of egocentric opportunism – a disrespectful approach to the “one moment” of others. They jeopardize this moment – and thus the common goal.

Leadership needs clarity

But how do you deal with this as a leader? Acceptance undermines respect in the team. Reacting too harshly ruins the start of the meeting for everyone – after all, the arrival of the latecomer is the start of the meeting. An unpleasant dilemma.

I advocate setting clear limits once for latecomers. Anyone who hasn’t learned this is unlikely to change it voluntarily later on. If they don’t change their behavior, I change mine – and do as little as possible together with them. That goes all the way to zero. I can report from my management experience: A clear attitude solves 80% of the problem. You can live with the remaining 20 %. Nobody is perfect.

Cultural perspectives: Commitment remains commitment

A frequent counter-argument is that punctuality is handled in a more relaxed manner in other cultures. A highly esteemed colleague told me:

“In Ethiopia, I experienced punctuality differently. It wasn’t about the exact time, but about clear priorities in time periods. The bus only leaves when it is full. Patients are treated in order. On the other hand, the family takes priority during free time – and working is frowned upon.”

I don’t see this as a contradiction, but rather a confirmation of a cross-cultural understanding of commitment. In Ethiopia, people perhaps agree more wisely – not on a point in time, but on a period of time. The framework conditions are defined differently, but the commitment remains the same. This is not easily transferable, as culture develops over generations and centuries.

I will ask my colleague again how they react in Ethiopia if a commitment is not kept. I am looking forward to her answer.

Strategic dimension of time

A brief strategic digression: Of all business-relevant approaches, the delay strategy works exclusively with time or, in the context of this article, with the temporal shift of the “one moment” into the future – the content is of secondary importance. Two variants are particularly relevant:

Strategic delay in the event of imminent defeat

• A decision is deliberately postponed in order to reposition oneself with the time gained. The timing is changed in consultation. With strong customer support, this is enormously effective.

Tactical delay with calculation

• Your negotiating partner deliberately makes you wait in order to provoke impatience. In at least 50% of cases, the provoked party harms themselves by reacting impulsively. Patience and control are required here – and that is definitely not easy.

When logic meets reality: the unforced error

Finally, a thought from the 2helmets process that is strongly based on logical consistency – on the clear distinction between “true” and “false”: if a strategy and its implementation plan are well thought out in terms of content and logic, it can still fail if it encounters a “false” reality. The consequences for strategy and project success can be serious – up to and including complete failure.

Often the cause is not a lack of competence or resources, but an avoidable mistake, an unforced error: a colleague, partner or customer does not keep a promise or does not do what they have promised. In a logically structured process, such behavior can have a negative, sometimes catastrophic effect. Annoying because it is avoidable.

This closes the circle to spacetime punctuality: responsibility for your own actions and their logical consequences comes to fruition at a decisive moment – the moment in which you take responsibility, for yourself and for others or not:

The moment, you own it, you better never let it go.

– Eminem, Lose Yourself

Punctuality – understood as space-time commitment – is more than just politeness. It is a strategic success factor. If you miss the moment, you risk more than just making a bad impression. They risk turning a “true” strategy into a “false” reality. And that is a price no one wants to pay in the end.

Those who recognize the moment and fill it with responsibility and energy shape the future. Spacetime punctuality is not an ideal, but first and foremost a decision.