Page 149 - Harnessing the Strengths

132 ■ Servant-Leadership in the Intercultural Practice

The Benchmark

Tom Cottle’s Circles Test was used to measure how people
2
think about time in diverse cultures. The test asks respon-
dents to draw three circles that represent the past, present,
and future. They are free to determine the size of the circles
and place them in relation to each other as they wish. While
the size of each circle says something about the importance
of the past, present, and future, the positioning of each on
the page provides insight as to the relationship between the
three. (See Figure 10.1.)
The combination of numbers with the following state-
ments makes it possible to determine if a culture has a pref-
erence for a sequential (linear) or synchronic (parallel) time
structure.

Give a number, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7, for each beginning and
end of a time zone, where:
7 = Years
6 = Months
5 = Weeks
4 = Days
3 = Hours
2 = Minutes
1 = Seconds
My past begins _____________________________from now
and ends __________________________________from now.
My present begins __________________________from now
and ends __________________________________from now.
My future begins ___________________________from now
and ends __________________________________from now.