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Working within the Native American culture, there is a healthy concept called "Indian time" (Verbos, Kennedy & Gladstone, 2011). This means that things will happen when they are supposed to - and no sooner. When I began working and supervising Native American employees in Indian country, I learned the origin of the phrase "Indian time." I came to understand that traditionally Indian people were very good students of nature. They studied the seasons and the animals to learn how to live well in their environments. Given this, they learned that it is important to be patient and to act when circumstances were "ripe" rather than to try and force things to happen when circumstances did not support them. I have also come to understand that it is a Western idea that we can control most circumstances, and that we should run our lives by the clock and the calendar.

When applying this to a work setting in a mainly Western situation, there are clearly clashes and struggles that can be had as far as meshing and melding Western management and business ideals and the needs/culture of Native Americans workers. Western work culture is very much built around structure, getting done when asked and not necessarily when the time is "ripe" and so forth. For a Native American worker, this can be a shock to the system and can go against the grain of their ideals of Indian Time and so forth. However, Native Americans hold that the control we think we have over circumstances is frequently an illusion and can lead to a lot of wasted energy. Much can be gained by watching, listening, waiting and then acting when the time is right. "Indian time" is really about respecting the "timeliness" of an action. It makes more sense to plant crops when the weather is right than when the calendar says it is time.

What a mistake it would be to take this traditional concept of timeliness and develop a misperception that contemporary Indian people are frequently late. Maximizing productivity of Native American workers (by non-Native American employers) requires an understanding of and respect for American Indian culture and associated activities. Successful work practices must recognize and/or deal with employees' ethnicity, family-sensitive supervision and work/family role conflict. Flextime and non-standard work schedules that permit flexible starting and quitting times as well as rotating days off, will eliminate conflicts between work and family life for Native American workers. Research will provide convincing evidence in favor of non-standard work schedules for Native American workers while maintaining organizational effectiveness, organizational membership, and positive employee attitudes. The use of flexible work schedules and break periods can be applied to people