Germany – Page 25 – understand-culture

Complexity costs money !

March 13, 2015. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Germany’s leading daily newspaper. Wirtschaft (business section). Page 20. An image takes up almost the entire bottom half of the page. All sorts of computer equipment wires tangled up in a ball.

The background colors are dark, heavy. “KOMPLEXITÄT. Kostet Unternehmen im Durchschnitt 10% ihres Gewinns.” (COMPLEXITY. Costs companies on average 10% of their annual profit)

Page 21. To the right. Another image. Again, just about the entire bottom half of the page. A young woman, perhaps thirty years old, sits in jeans and a blouse, with a tablet in her hands. Half-smiling, focused. The background colors are yellowy, bright, hopeful. “EINFACH. Hilft sparen.” (SIMPLICITY. Helps saving).

At the bottom left of the secon ad: the well-known SAP logo with their motto: Run Simple. SAP. German. One of the world’s leading enterprise software companies. The message: We know how to handle complexity. Let us do it for you.

Theoriekapitel

Theorie is theory. Kapitel is chapter, as in a book.

In German universities it is expected not only in B.A. and M.A. theses, but also in course term papers, that the second chapter, after the introduction, be devoted to theory, the so-called Theoriekapitel.

In it the author demonstrates that she is aware (conscious) of the complexity of the subject matter, that she understands that subject matter in the broader context of current research on it, and most importantly that she can durchdringen (penetrate) that complexity.

Bringschuld

When persuading, Germans feel obligated to present the Gesamtbild, the full picture, all of the facts, the pretty as well as the less pretty, what works, what does not.

This is a Bringschuld, literally bring or deliver obligation. The German presenter does not wait until critical questions from the audience pull out or expose the weaknesses of an argument. In Germany it is a sign of competence, professionalism, honesty and integrity to reveal openly the weaknesses of what is being presented.

An attempt to conceal the weaknesses of an argument, offering, concept or solution leaves a German listener with only two possible explanations. The presenter either is not aware of the weaknesses, and is therefore not fully competent, or the presenter is indeed aware but trying to conceal the weaknesses, and therefore dishonest.

Either way the presenter will not persuade the German listener. And worse, the presenter‘s credibility has been damaged severely.

Of Ducks and Salespeople

“We’re like ducks. We’re not good at either swimming or flying.” This was the response of a graduate student in Wirtschaftsingenieurwesens – a kind of combination of business and engineering, each of them in the lighter form – when asked what subject material her studies involved.

The duck metaphor reveals a conflict in German companies. Those working in sales & marketing are still looked down upon a bit as people who go from door-to-door selling a product (vacuum cleaners is the cliché) which they have neither developed nor manufactured. Even more, colleagues in sales & marketing often feel unfairly blamed when the company does not perform well.

Prestige in the German economy still goes to those who invent, develop and make physical products. Engineers and artisans are among the most highly respected disciplines.

The results of their work can be seen, held, put to work, and depending on their sophistication even marveled at. Whereas the success of capable sales & marketing people can be seen only in dry, impersonal numbers.

In addition, almost all professionals in sales & marketing transitioned into that discipline from another one, perhaps even from engineering. In fact, Germany doesn’t have a traditional Berufsgruppe – occupation category – for sales. There is no guild going back to the Middle Ages as there are for almost all other technical occupations. Thus the duck-metaphor. Neither fish nor fowl.

Nonetheless, the importance of the work “ducks” perform continues to increase in today’s global economy, where quality and technical prowess alone are not enough to sell a product.

Power to the engineers!

In the most recent poll on occupational prestige in Germany conducted by the Allensbach Institute engineers and university professors took seventh place, behind physicians and craftsmen, but well ahead of politicians and journalists.

26% of Germans polled noted a high degree of respect for the engineering profession. No wonder, for Germans define individual prestige based on technical (specialized) knowledge.

Almost every third supervisory board member of a DAX30 company is an engineer by training. Industrial heavyweights like Volkswagen and DaimlerBenz have always been run by engineers, to the dismay, as the magazine Spiegel wrote, of those colleagues with a business or legal background.

“Don’t sell to me”

In Germany, to inform persuasively means to lead, guide, channel listeners to the desired conclusion and decision. It is done indirectly, subtlely, discreetly, signaling, indicating, not selling.

The slightest form of pushiness, of promoting can lead the German audience to suspect that the presenter is hiding something or trying manipulate them. Reserve and restraint is a virtue in the German context and moves the presenter closer towards the goal.

Sales personnel in German stores often greet the customer with Sie kommen zurecht? meaning “You know what you’re looking for?” or Sie schauen nur? meaning “You‘re just taking a look around?”.

This is their way of communicating that they are ready at any time to assist the customer with any questions they might have, but do not want to disturb them, much less try to sell them something.

German customers do not feel comfortable being sold to, certainly not aggressively sold to. Germans who sell know this of themselves, take therefore a hands-off, discreet approach, to persuasion, reacting only if and when the audience gives the corresponding signals.

Low Prestige

Sales is given low prestige in Germany. People in general do not like to sell. Germans even less so. High prestige in the German business world is enjoyed by the natural sciences, engineering, manufacturing, law, and until recently, banking and finance. The disciplines of sales, including account management, and marketing enjoy less prestige.

King in Germany is knowledge, research and development, invention, production. Germans in general believe that a product should sell itself. Who needs sales/marketing? Verkaufen – German for selling – begins with ver, the prefix to many German verbs which have a negative meaning.

See Heinz Erhardt, one of post-war West Germany’s most beloved comedians and actors.

überzeugen, not überreden

The German word überzeugen – literally over-witness; more than enough witnesses – means to persuade or convince with plausible arguments, evidence, proof that something is true, right, correct.

überzeugen for Germans means to use rational arguments only, to appeal to reason, without attempting establish a personal (subjective, emotional) relationship with the target audience.

The German word überreden – literally over-talk; more than enough talk – means to coax, plead, cajole, browbeat, armtwist the other person to do something they originally did not wish to.

überreden for Germans means to use subjective-emotional argumentation, to appeal to the emotions, to the non-rational. Germans reject überreden. Germans expect überzeugen.

Intuition vs. Analysis

According to a report in the Journal of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes by researchers from Boston College, George Mason University and Rice University: Intuition may be just as effective in decision-making as an analytical approach. And sometimes more efficient and effective, depending on the decision-maker’s level of expertise on the subject at hand.

“What we found demystifies a lot of the information out there that says intuition isn’t as effective as if you sat down and walked through an analytical approach.”

Testing intuition against analysis, the study found that people can trust their gut and rely on intuition when making a broad evaluation in an area where they have in-depth knowledge of the subject. As people move up in organizations, they’re often required to make judgments that may not be readily solved by rational analysis.

Intuition has long been viewed as a less effective approach to critical reasoning when compared to the merits of analytical thinking. Yet as society and businesses place a greater emphasis on the speed and effectiveness of decision-making, the intuitive approach has been identified as an increasingly important tool.

Analytic decisions are great for breaking things down into smaller parts, which is necessary for a math problem. But intuition is about looking at patterns and wholes.

“If worse comes to worst . . .”

There are several key phrases that Americans use when making quick, suboptimal decisions. Some of these include:

At the drop of a hat – without any hesitation, instantly; with the slightest provocation.

Back to the drawing board – when a decision fails and a new one needs to be made. First known use: 1941 in a cartoon in the New Yorker magazine.

Back to square one – when a decisions fails so completely that you have to go back to the beginning and start over.

Cross that bridge when you come to it – deal with a problem when it arises, not before. First known use: 1851 in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s The Golden Legend.

If worse comes to worst . . . – if the worst possible outcome of the bad decision occurs, the person saying it will do whatever he/she says next. First known use: 1596. Example: We’ll put this to market now, and if worse comes to worst we’ll refund our customers’ money.

Rash decision – a decision made without considering all of the details.