Dilbert comic strip for 10/17/2014 from the official Dilbert comic strips archive.

_Story:

Two startups; both are competing in an emerging market. Both rely heavily on user-generated content and multi-device interfaces; a common scenario these days. Like many early-stage companies, these startups have small teams and limited resources. They also need to deal with high-level issues & limited resources. Consequently for them, focusing becomes increasingly harder, and identifying what is important becomes confusing.

Eastern cultures have a way to deal with this state of confusion. To understand this, first let’s to break it in two general elements: Time and Tasks.

Starting with Time. Richard Lewis recently published an article on How Different Cultures Understand Time.

“West sees time passing without decisions being made or actions performed as having been “wasted.” East does not see time as racing away unutilized in a linear future, but coming around again in a circle, where the same opportunities, risks and dangers will represent themselves when people are so many days, weeks or months wiser.”

The second approach resonates with you?.. startups are tough.

His thoughts on how Eastern cultures experience time is particularly interesting. I grew up in Middle East — a Multi-Active Time Culture — , founded companies during my 20s in Southeast Asia — a Cyclic Time Culture — , and now studying in the West, — a Linear Time Culture. Let’s focus on the Eastern cultures (see side comments):

Western action chains (Linear)/Asian reflection(Circular).

East enjoys contemplation and reflection. It is because of a sense of humbleness and collectiveness that is embedded in their cultures. They spend sometimes months, to come to a decision, yet they are very dominant in the global economy. It is a very intuitive and iterative process. Intuition and iteration are the heart of a startup. They are with the founder from the creation of the idea to the day of the exit. Circular Time is in tune with these core characteristics of lean startup method. The market, however, moves according to Linear Time principles. Past has to be settled quickly, present has to be dealt with systematically, and future has to be forecasted accurately.

Linear v.s. Circular paradox in a startup

Let’s focus on the second element now. Tasks are the reason that we allocate and prioritize our time. In a startup, tasks can be divided into two major categories:

Creative tasks focus on the future sustainability (strategy, vision, culture, IMC, etc.).

Logical tasks focus on the current realities (customer service, user experience, current supply chain, etc.).

Circular Time is particularly useful in Creative tasks. Creativity and imagination is needed in defining, for example, the startup’s vision. Vision development and discovery is an iterative process. It requires self-reflection and self-correction. In contrast, Logical tasks have to be completed according to Linear Time approach. A startup cannot spend time contemplating and reflecting about a customer support request or a questionable user-generated content. Handling these responsibilities requires a structured approach. This paradox is the main source of confusion for many young startups. A young startup is energized to move towards a vision fast, and discover the opportunities along the path. Early on, chances are uncertain, and visions are unclear. The startup is stuck with many Logical tasks that it can’t reflect on the inner-workings effectively, hurting its chance for becoming sustainable. A startup needs to have plenty of Circular Time to allocate for the Creative tasks, and one way to do this, is by reducing the time that is needed for the Logical tasks.