Decision-Making – Page 13 – understand-culture

Decision-Making Process

Germans are process oriented. They think through how a task is best completed. Germans set up work processes which are logical, structured, can be monitored and optimized. Since there is no action without first a decision to act, Germans focus on how decisions are made.

The more complex the decision, the more carefully Germans consider how they make it. Who will be affected by the decision? Who has the final say about the decision? Who has what rights and responsibilities? Germans believe that routine, yet complex, decisions are best made with the help of a decision-making process. And the better the process, the better the decisions made.

The Germans are methodical. In order to maintain Überblick (overview) and Durchblick (throughview) they distinguish carefully between specific steps and their individual requirements within a decision making process. Germans believe that a methodical approach minimizes mistakes.

They also assign a generous time frame to an important decision. In order to move carefully through the process they allow for the repetition of certain steps. Germans believe in moving to the next step in a process only after the preceding step has been completed properly. Patience and thoroughness are critical.

A methodical approach means a well-structured process with sequential action. The clearer the process, the tighter and more logical the sequence of the individual steps, the better coordinated all of the related activities.

Method. Latin methodus, Greek méthodos: The path of analysis, the route to somewhere; a set way to reach insight; a specific way of doing something; the path to a specific goal; based on a plan; well thought through.

German education stresses methodology. University students receive their degrees after demonstrating in a thesis that they have mastered the methodologies current in their field of study. The first part of a thesis goes into great detail about the specific methodology of analysis applied to the subject.

Sequence. Latin sequentia: order of things; to place similar things in line; repetition of a musical motif; shorter pieces of a movie put in a specific order; series of cards in a row.

Geduld

Hastig: hasty, impatient: To act rashly without having considered the consequences; unsettled, jumpy, nervous.

Eile mit Weile translates roughly “take your time when moving quickly”. The Germans believe that good work can be completed sooner by taking your time, working thoroughly, avoiding mistakes whose correction will require more time. ‘Eile mit Weile’ is for the Germans not a contradiction in terms but a proven approach.

Another common figure of speech in German is ‘mit dem Kopf durch die Wand’, literally to try to go through the wall with your head. It signals a lack of sophistication, of imagination, of the ability to navigate around barriers. Those who attempt ‘mit dem Kopf durch die Wand’ are seen as stubborn, unreflective, rough, intellectually lazy. These are not compliments in the German culture.

Geduld: patience; to bear, to carry; calm and self-controlled acceptance of something which is uncomfortable or could take a long time. Geduld – patience – is required especially in professions whose results come at a much later time. Geduld is also required when work involves much trial and error.

Vorbereiten: to prepare: to orient oneself to something; to make oneself capable; to complete necessary work ahead of time, in anticipation of; to prepare or develop oneself.

Germans plan. They place great value on preparation. ‘Was man im Kopf nicht hat, muss man in den Füssen haben’ translates roughly as “What one doesn‘t have in their head, they need to have in their feet”, meaning those who are unprepared have to hustle here and there in order to complete their tasks.

Being unprepared slows down the work of the other colleagues, threatens the execution of the overall plan, forces a rescheduling of work results. Germans feel very uncomfortable when a plan is poorly executed.

Before a German begins a specific task the tools have been laid out, the job description and requirements have been thoroughly read, all the necessary pieces have been assembled, the work plan is pinned on the wall above the workbench, so to speak. The work is then completed in a timely fashion and with an eye on quality.

This is the approach of a master artisan in his shop, of a German Hausfrau in the kitchen, of a German professor at the university. Rarely does that professor need to scurry back to his office in order to get a certain book or paper. Disorganization is a sign of being unzuverläßig, unreliable. What was he thinking that he forgot the book? Is he really serious about his work? How reliable is someone who doesn’t prepare their work?

Fehlerkultur

Fehlerkultur – literally failure-culture – is defined by sociologists as the way in which societies react to failure (mistakes) and to those who commit them. A German psychologist took a closer look at Fehlerkultur within German companies.

In the past, innovation in Germany, he wrote, was the product of a long collective decision making process. The great inventions of the Industrial Revolution in Germany were very seldom the result of an individual genius, but instead the achievement of groups of men and women.

Problems (mistakes, errors, failures) were identified, analyzed and solved collectively, as a group. The final product was ausgereift – technically mature, well-engineered, sophisticated. American-styled “trial and error” does not exist in German thinking, which is why there is no accurate German translation for it.

The negative side of this German national-cultural strength is that a systematic, perfection-oriented group approach to solving problems (to innovation) requires patience and time. And time is not always offorded by today’s rapid market developments.

It is in such circumstances, according to the study, that the Germans inclination to blame those who take risks and inevitably make mistakes comes stronger into play.

Mistakes are deemed almost as a personal and professional transgression which demand being exposed, and the perpetrator punished. This heightens even more the innate German fear of commiting errors, which in turn stymies creative thinking.

“Good things need their time”

The German expression Gut Ding will Weile haben – good things need their time – states that things which are supposed to turn out good will need some time. This becomes clear especially when important decisions are to be addressed:

“Quality before speed: Merkel pulls the brakes at the introduction of new supervision of European banks.” (Handelsblatt 17.2.2015)

“The German Handball Federation President Bauer: “Quality comes before speed.“ (Lahner Zeitung 20.6.2014)

“NPD-Ban: Quality before speed.” (Hamburger Abendblatt 9.12.2011)

Personal liability

Germany is a country based on the rule of law. And there are many laws in Germany. The Germans abide by them. For Germans, rules and regulations are one way to reduce risk of personal liability. This can make working with Germans difficult for non-Germans. A conditional German yes might very well be based on the fear of being made personally responsible for the outcome of an agreement.

Working with Germans or setting foot on German soil immediately involves coming in contact with German laws. Why are escalators in Germany so slow? Because the store owner is liable for any accidents.

Bus drivers in Germany will only let passengers enter or exit at designated bus stops, even if it is only ten meters away. For legal reasons. When sending an email to a group of friends the other email addresses should not be visible. Personal email addresses are private and protected by Datenschutz, information privacy protection laws.

Computers often need repair. Employees of companies are not permitted to take action, unless they are in the IT department. If repairing leads to further damage, the employee is personally liable. For it is not their job, but the employer‘s, to repair company equipment.

The same goes for cleaning. Rolling up your sleeves and cleaning dirty windows in your office is a nice gesture, but not a good idea in Germany. The employee is liable for any injury incurred during the cleaning. The company‘s insurance company certainly will not pick up the costs. And the company can even charge the employee for not focusing on the work they are paid for.

German laws also prescribe clearly in which locations what kinds of commercial space can be used for. Many an organization has learned the hard way that the space they rented cannot be used for the purposes they intended.

Check with Colleagues and Manager

Agreements of substance and importance have effects, ramifications, influence on the work of others. And since Americans work in teams, many of them in several teams at any given time, they are not inclined to enter fully into an agreement until they have checked out what those effects might be.

Why invest additional time discussing the details of a potential agreement, if one or two aspects of it are counter to their other responsibilities? Instead, Americans will check with key colleagues in those organizations potentially influenced by the agreement. In many cases, they will also briefly discuss the case with their direct manager.

This approach is often mistakenly interpreted as a sign that many Americans are either incapable or unwilling to make decisions on their own, without having to run to their boss for permission.

American team leads ultimately carry all responsibility for what occurs within their organization, and are therefore keenly interested in what obligations their team members make in their – the team leader’s – names.