The Bundeswehr’s regulation A-2600/1 on Innere Führung says: Führung muss Handlungsspielräume, Mitwirkung und Mitverantwortung ermöglichen. Leadership must allow room for action, participation and shared responsibility. Superiors must therefore lead mainly by mission, Führen mit Auftrag. The next sentence reads: Dabei müssen sie gegebenenfalls andere als die eigenen Lösungsansätze akzeptieren. In doing so, they must where necessary accept solutions other than their own. The regulation adds that only a person who was informed in time and in full, and who understands the purpose of the task, is able and willing to act in the spirit of the mission.
It Is Wrong to Order Details
German fire brigades work under the service regulation FwDV 100 on leadership in operations. Its 1999 edition defines Auftragstaktik, mission tactics, as a concept of leadership that leaves the crews as much freedom as possible in carrying out the task. Entscheidend ist das Erreichen des vorgegebenen Ziels. What counts is reaching the given goal. The order may be limited to a clear statement of that goal. The regulation also says: Es ist falsch, Einzelheiten zu befehlen, die die nachgeordneten Führungskräfte an Ort und Stelle besser übersehen. It is wrong to order details that the subordinate leaders on the spot can judge better.
The Air Traffic Controllers of 1973
Civil servants in Germany may not strike. Beginning on Ascension Day, 31 May 1973, and until the end of the year, West German air traffic controllers slowed down traffic at several German airports by Dienst nach Vorschrift, working strictly to the rules. German Wikipedia notes that this method let civil servants get around their ban on striking. The airlines put their losses at about 235 million marks. In 1981 the Federal Administrative Court ruled that collective actions which reduce the work performed violate a civil servant’s duty to carry out the office conscientiously. In 1984 the federal government had to pay Lufthansa more than 113 million marks in damages for the “air traffic controllers’ action of 1973.”
Three Out of Four Work to Rule
Every year the polling company Gallup asks employees in Germany about their bond with their employer. In the 2024 survey of 1,700 employees, 78 percent had a low emotional bond. Gallup’s German press release describes them simply as people die Dienst nach Vorschrift machen, who work to rule. Only 9 percent had a high bond. In the survey for 2025 the figures were 10 percent high, 77 percent low and 13 percent none. In this use, the term describes a lasting state of mind, not a protest.
Quiet Quitting Already Had a German Name
In August 2022, when “quiet quitting” spread on social media, the legal news site LTO asked the labor lawyer Michael Fuhlrott what it meant. Es lässt sich ins Deutsche am besten mit ‘Dienst nach Vorschrift’ übersetzen. It is best translated into German as work to rule. The aim, he said, is not to harm the employer, and the employer’s legal options are very limited. German case law ties the duty to the person. The Federal Labor Court ruled in 2003 that an employee may not set the level of performance arbitrarily, but must work with appropriate use of his personal capacity.
Planning, Carrying Out, Checking
The training regulation for mechatronics technicians says that apprentices shall be enabled to do qualified work die insbesondere selbstständiges Planen, Durchführen und Kontrollieren einschließt, which includes in particular independent planning, carrying out and checking. The next sentence says that this ability must be proven in the examinations.
Who Plans the Work
In 2018, 64 percent of employees in Germany said they could often plan and organize their own work. In 2006 the figure had been 68 percent. Only 29 percent said they often had influence on the amount of work assigned to them. The figures come from a large employment survey by two federal institutes, the BIBB for vocational training and the BAuA for occupational safety and health. The federal government reported them in 2019 in reply to a question from members of the Bundestag.
What Job Ads Ask For
In 2022 the Bertelsmann Stiftung analyzed more than 48 million online job advertisements in Germany. Einsatzbereitschaft, commitment, was required in nearly half of them. Teamfähigkeit, the ability to work in a team, appeared in just under a third. Selbstständigkeit, independence, appeared in a quarter. The same word returns when the job ends. A very good German work reference says: Er arbeitete stets sehr selbstständig, zuverlässig und verantwortungsbewusst. He always worked very independently, reliably and responsibly.
Not the Letter of Your Will
Heinrich von Kleist wrote Prinz Friedrich von Homburg in 1809 and 1810. Before the battle of Fehrbellin the prince is told not to attack without an explicit order. He attacks anyway and wins. He is sentenced to death for disobedience. Near the end of the play the old colonel Kottwitz defends him before the Elector. Herr, das Gesetz, das höchste, oberste, / Das wirken soll, in deiner Feldherrn Brust, / Das ist der Buchstab deines Willens nicht. Sir, the highest law that should work in your general’s breast is not the letter of your will. Does the Elector want to make the army a tool, he asks, gleich dem Schwerte, / Das tot in deinem goldnen Gürtel ruht, like the sword that lies dead in your golden belt? The Elector asks in return: Meinst du das Glück werd immerdar, wie jüngst, / Mit einem Kranz den Ungehorsam lohnen? Do you think luck will always reward disobedience with a wreath, as it did just now?
Where the Stores Decide
Götz Werner and three partners founded the drugstore chain dm in 1973. Werner’s first store was in Karlsruhe. He gave his stores great independence. The store managers could decide on the product range and the staff schedules, and in part on pay. In a 2018 interview Werner said that a leader today must no longer be a Direktor but an Evokator, one who calls forth. Der Direktor weiß alles besser, gibt die Direktiven. The director knows everything better and gives the directives. Die Kollegin schaut nicht zum Vorgesetzten, sondern zum Kunden. The employee looks not to the superior, but to the customer. Werner died in February 2022, at the age of 78.