Germans believe decisions should be made by those with appropriate authority and relevant expertise. Not everyone has standing to decide everything. Technical decisions should involve those with technical competence. Decisions within certain domains belong to those with appropriate position and knowledge.
When working with German organizations, understand who appropriately decides what. Technical matters will be deferred to relevant experts. Hierarchy matters for certain decisions. Functional expertise matters for others.
Trying to decide matters outside your competence or authority undermines credibility. Conversely, those with relevant expertise expect their input to carry weight. The allocation of decision authority according to competence improves decision quality.
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