I’ve never had any kind of formal professional experience with or training in processes. I studied the liberals arts. History was my major. I’m non-technical. I can barely chang a lightbulb. When my son, Daniel, was a young I dreaded the Christmas gifts we gave to him, the toys which
A few years back I interviewed an American expert on processes. He works in a German multinational company with a very large presence in the U.S. He and his German colleagues had been working for months on aligning their processes. The Germans wanted very much to harmonize the processes. “harmonize”
The intense German focus on processes unsettles Americans time and again. It limits, cramps their flexibility. In the U.S. processes are seldom viewed as an effective alternative to agility, speed, creativity. Americans believe that the core skills of good management cannot be forced into processes, cannot be performed by processes.
Das, was möglich ist, streben wir an.“ Literally: That which is possible we strive for. In a deeper sense: We always strive for the optimum. „So gut wie möglich, nicht so gut wie nötig.“ Literally: As good as possible, not as good as necessary. In a deeper sense: As good
It occurred within my very first year working in the Bundestag for the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group. There were some serious differences of opinion between me and my team lead, my boss. Apparently people at the highest level became aware of it. Within a few weeks I was simply informed –
Where Americans go into duck and cover mode, Germans see themselves in a spirited debate, perhaps an open argument or dispute, but most likely necessary in order to get clarity on an important matter. Stuttgart. They meet once a quarter. The leadership team. Each reports on the state of their
You’re an excellent swimmer. As a child, on the school swim team, as an adult once or twice a week still. Suddenly you find yourself in the water. It’s dark. Not a pool. Neither river nor ocean. A lake. Pitch black. You swim, call out, listen. Nothing. Just your movement
A DAX30 company. Industry. Engineering and manufacturing. A senior-level manager. German. Let‘s call him Heinrich. I had done about six months of work for his organization. Several times I sat in on their staff meetings, having been asked to play „fly on the wall“ (or Mäuschen, little mouse, as the
Systematic thinking is one of the strongest of German character traits. It‘s a red thread woven in and through all of the topics CI addresses. I think of the many Germans in my seminars and workshops. I observe their tendency time and again. I separate the Americans and the Germans
Back to our breakout groups in the workshop. Americans very seldom discuss the deeper meaning of a decision to be made. If, however, such a discussion does take place then it‘s focused on the purpose of the decision, on whom it serves and how. Nor do Americans spend much time
