United States – Page 68 – understand-culture

verbal vs. written

In Germany, a verbal agreement can indeed be legally binding. German contract law, as outlined in the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (BGB), recognizes both written and oral agreements as legally enforceable under certain conditions. According to Sections 145 to 157 of the BGB, a contract can be formed through a verbal agreement as long as it meets the essential elements of a contract. These elements include a clear offer and acceptance, an intention to create legal relations, and consideration in the form of a service, product, or payment.

However, not all agreements can be concluded verbally. Certain types of contracts must be in writing to be legally binding. For instance, contracts involving the sale or transfer of real property must be notarized in writing according to Section 311b of the BGB. Similarly, a guarantee agreement must be in written form to be valid, as stipulated in Section 766 of the BGB. Consumer loan agreements also require a written format under Section 492 of the BGB.

While verbal agreements are binding, they can present significant challenges when it comes to enforcement. The burden of proof rests on the party claiming that a contract was formed, and without written evidence, it may be difficult to establish the exact terms of the agreement. Disputes often arise over differing interpretations of what was said, complicating the enforcement of verbal agreements.

Culturally, Germans tend to prefer written documentation even when a verbal agreement is legally valid. This preference is rooted in a desire to maintain clarity and avoid misunderstandings, particularly in business contexts where detailed and precise agreements are the norm. While the law may uphold verbal agreements, in practice, written contracts remain the standard for most transactions, ensuring that all terms are clearly defined and easily enforceable.

Honesty is the best policy

Ehrlich währt am längsten. Honesty is the best policy. Integrity and sincerity are considered important principles in Germany—even if they can lead to longer negotiations. The goal is to gain the trust of your negotiating partners in the long term.

Aphorisms

Wissen ist Macht, aber Macht ist auch ohne Wissen Macht. – Knowledge is power, but power is power even without knowledge.

Wissen ist Macht? Aber Macht isst Wissen. – Knowledge is power? But power eats knowledge. (Elmar Schenkel (*1953), Anglicist, author, translator, painter)

Für die Feinde ist das Wissen Macht, für uns ist die Macht Wissen! Ohne Macht kein Wissen! – For enemies knowledge is power, for us knowledge is power! Without power there is no knowledge! (Wilhelm Liebknecht (1826 – 1900), German journalist and politician)

Wissen ist Macht. Wissen von der Macht, noch ein wenig mehr Macht. – Knowledge is power. Knowledge of the Force, a little more power. (Martin Gerhard Reisenberg, *1949), qualified librarian and author)

Wissen ist die Macht zu wissen, was man besser nicht macht. – Knowledge is the power to know what is better not to do. (Gerhard Uhlenbruck, *1929), German immunobiologist and aphorist)

Wenn Wissen Macht ist, dann macht Nichtwissen ohnmächtig. – If knowledge is power, then ignorance makes you powerless. (Robert Kroiß, *1949, German writer)

What Are Organizational Silos?

For a business to be successful, it’s important for employees to share ideas and work well together. Organizational silos can affect how employees interact with one another. As a manager, understanding the pros and cons of organizational silos can enable you to communicate effectively with every member of your team. In this article, we discuss the definition of organizational silos and how you can dismantle them.

Why most people never succeed

Make a career, become a boss, rise to the top of a manager – the impression is often given that professional success takes precedence over everything else. But why do most people never have a career, never become managers?

What is preventing you from advancing to a boss or managerial position? Career consultant Martin Wehrle shows what causes most people to fail when making a career. The range of reasons extends from a conscious decision against a career to vague goals and a lack of vitamin B (relationship). At the same time, he gives tips on how to make a career and rise to the rank of manager.

YouTube comments:

“Performance is important and comes second. It doesn’t work without performance either. But the primary factor is whether or not the person or persons deciding whether you move up just likes you. If he doesn’t like you you don’t stand a chance.”

“The most important statement is the first! It is so crucial to know what I want and then I have to carry it through to the end. For me, family comes first, so I’m just becoming a simple but happy worker without overblown and unrealistic handouts.”

“I finished with the career topic. Better to earn less and be happy than ruin your life for a little more money. You always have to take one thing into account: With every higher step on the career ladder, the pressure also increases, life satisfaction decreases dramatically from an individual level, this loss of quality of life cannot be compensated for with money. My employer would appreciate it if I did my master’s certificate in order to replace my supervisor (retired) in about a year. But as soon as I have to fill in for him at his post, I would like to confess to the ‘Kennedy murder’ just to be relieved of the pressure, so why would I voluntarily pursue this post permanently?”

“I also decided to work as an engineer, but without a managerial position because my private life is also much more important to me. I still earn very well and never come home stressed. So I’m always in a good mood after work.”

Generalist vs. Specialist: Which Is Better?

YouTube comments:

“As a former gifted kid, this explains so much about how I was taught.”

“My trajectory as a designer was to be very general for along time. This helped shape my overall skillset but when it came to actually delivering projects and building a business, I needed some aspect of specialisation. Perhaps specialising is the thing that sits at the front of a broad skillset?”

“Specialist are often strange people and limited thinkers. I became a chess champion at 7 for the first time, I turned away from it because of it’s limitations on thought. After a few years of defending my title I just couldn’t see the point anymore.”

“I think the ideal is to be a generalist, where you are go in depth for 2-3 domains… for example, I am an engineer and have background in operations management, but also try to learn a bit of everything (finance, IT, sales, etc)”

Career Made in Germany

Nowadays, careers rarely follow a linear path. People expect to change jobs and even industries throughout their lives. The traditional career ladder no longer applies. We look at how ‘making it’ is being redefined in Germany.

In Germany, a tendency to know-it-all is spreading. That could be politically dangerous

NZZ. December 2022. Germans don’t tend towards extremism – actually. But in the political and media sphere, know-it-alls and paternalism are increasingly noticeable. Contempt for the normal is a cause for concern.

For a long time, modern Germany was not a country to worry about from a democratic point of view. According to a study by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion from this year, 25 percent of Germans place themselves exactly in the middle of the democratic opinion spectrum; 36 percent slightly to the left, 29 percent slightly to the right of this center. That’s 90 percent between center-left and center-right. Actually calming.

The eternal know-it-all of Western Europe

Berthold Löffler lived in Poland for a long time. He explains how Eastern Europeans think of Germans

The Weingarten professor is an Eastern Europe expert. In an interview, he explains why countries like Poland and Hungary see the EU on the wrong track.

“Professor Löffler, when it comes to taking in refugees, Germany is usually alone in the lead. The countries of Eastern Europe refuse this humanitarian act. Do you understand that?”

“Absolutely, because politicians should first and foremost represent the interests of their own country. This is exactly what the governments in Warsaw or Budapest are doing. But the Eastern Europeans also have Europe in mind. From this point of view, too, they consider Angela Merkel’s policies to be naïve and without prospects.”

What Happened in Chattanooga?

2014. The recent vote by workers in a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee to decline representation by the United Auto Workers union (UAW) highlights the differences in labor policies between the United States and Germany.

With American union membership on the decline, this was the first time that the UAW attempted to represent workers in a foreign company in over a decade, and its failure sets a precedent for the future of unions in the American South.

Looking to its successes in Germany and elsewhere, Volkswagen was in favor of creating a German-style “works council” in Chattanooga that, due to American labor laws, would require the UAW to represent workers’ interests.

This was met with mixed reviews. In particular, workers worried that voting for union representation would scare away production of a new model of SUV, despite VW’s assurances that the UAW vote would have no effect on the decision to manufacture the SUV in Chattanooga. Politics also played a role in the outcome.

In the politically conservative South, several Tennessee government officials, with the help of anti-union action committees, were able to lead a successful campaign against the union. Some lawmakers warned that VW might not receive new tax incentives to expand in the state if the UAW was successful at the VW plant.

Furthermore, many workers were reportedly happy with current wages, felt that the company treated them well, and did not want the union to damage or muddy that dynamic. The vote has left Volkswagen still looking for a way to create a works council, even without the UAW.