“Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door” is attributed to the American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson from the late 19th century.
It may, however, be a misquotation of “If a man has good corn or wood, or boards, or pigs, to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs, than anybody else, you will find a broad, hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods“.
The phrase “to build a better mousetrap”, has come to signify a false belief that companies need only build a better product for them to succeed, as if the sales and marketing of that product played an insignificant role. Americans rarely believe that a product can sell itself.
System. Latin systema, Greek sýstēma. A whole made up of many pieces linked together; put together, link, place together; a theoretical scheme.
For Germans the particulars of a system define themselves through their relation to each other. Particulars can only be understand through their relationships, connections, mutual influences. The particular is only significant and understandable as a part of a system. Latin particularis, a part, a minority.
“Do you recognize the system here?” is asked to test whether an event is based on coincidence. Whereas a system explains events as the logical occurrence of individual interactions.
See below Will Quadflieg and the legendary Gustaf Gründgens – Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg, 1960
The Germans are inclined to say: Everything has its cause. Everything is linked to everything else. Nothing is coincidence. The world is a huge system. The Germans believe in systems, in an explanation behind all phenomena.
They seek out those systems. As Johann von Goethe stated in Faust: “to understand what at the deepest level holds the world together.“
The Germans speak good to very good English. This, however, can lead to them importing English terms literally into German: “to break down” becomes herunterbrechen, as in to break down a complex topic into its component parts.
But just because a term can be literally translated into another language does not mean that the thinking behind that term fits into the other culture’s way of thinking.
In fact, Germans do not consider it helpful to take complexity and break it down (herunterbrechen) into its component parts. They aim to do the opposite, to see particulars in their interrelationships, in their mutual influences. They look for patterns, strive to understand complexity as a whole, as a system. Germans do not break down, instead they tie together.
In this sense, herunterbrechen is a form of corruption, of turning, twisting, convoluting a complex reality. Instead of simplifying complexity, the Germans enter into it, in order to understand it, to work with it as it is.
Overview. The view from an elevated point, from which one can see across an expanse.
Ich habe den Überblick verloren. I have lost overview. Er überblickt die Sache nicht mehr. He no longer has an overview of the situation. These are statements one often hears in Germany. The details, and the kinds of details, have become too great to maintain an understanding of the situation. Germans place high value on Überblick (overview), on understanding a situation as a whole, as a system.
Überblick is especially important in those professions where the details are critical: air traffic controllers, project management, every kind of logistical coordination.
Durchblick: Literally through-view; view, perspective between, through, into a situation; to grasp the interrelations, connections, mutual influences.
Er hat den Durchblick. He has through-view. Er blickt da voll durch. He totally sees through the situation. Blicken Sie durch? Do you have through-view? These are typical sentences in German. Those who “see through” know what they’re talking about, understand both the details and the big picture. A Durchblicker knows a topic through and through and is on the path to becoming a true expert.
Durchblick is expecially important in those professions where a high level of expertise is demanded, such as in the natural sciences, nuclear physics, in the most sophisticated areas of surgery.
Umsicht: Literally view around. Intelligent, goal-oriented awareness of all important factors necessary to make wise, reflected decisions.
The Germans are considered to be people with Umsicht. They avoid unnecessary risk, shy away from situations involving factors which they cannot calculate. “Vorsicht ist die Mutter der Porzellankiste” (Carefulness is the mother of the porcelain) is a well-known German figure of speech. Germans are careful, umsichtig (aware of their surroundings). They take their time, proceed tentatively.
Umsicht is especially important in those areas where mistakes have significant negative effects: airline pilots, train conductors, legislators, and of course medical physicians.
In a May 2015 article Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges was asked what his biggest management mistake had been thusfar in his career.
Höttges responded that in his days as the head of T-Mobile Germany back at the beginning of the 2000s, he was very motivated and came up with at least one new idea every day of the week.
He admitted to demanding too much of the managers and employees. In doing so he overwhelmed the entire company. Höttges said that he had learned over the years. Today he focuses only on what has been agreed upon. Even if he has ten other good ideas.
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?
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.
“If you care about being thought credible and intelligent, do not use complex language where simpler language will do. Couching familiar ideas in pretentious language is taken as a sign of poor intelligence and low credibility.” From Thinking, Fast and Slow. Daniel Kahneman, 2002 winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics.
German resumés (curriculum vitae) are written chronologically. The potential employer is given a complete overview of the applicant’s background, from the beginning to the present.
Germans reading a resumé look closely not only at those areas relevant to the job, but at all information which might give them a full picture of the applicant.
Most importantly, and critically, they look for Lücken (gaps) in the Lebenslauf – the German word for resumé or curriculum vitae. Leben life + lauf from laufen + to run: how one’s life has run, proceeded, moved forward. And if they spot any Lücken, they’ll be sure to address them in a face-to-face interview.
Based on what the applicant reveals in the interview the employer can gain even deeper insight into work experience, degree of reliability, motivation, ambitions. The goal is a realistic assessment of the job candidate.
As early as in high school Germans students are told: “Take seriously what you do after high school. Gaps in your resumé are not good!” German university students fill gaps between semesters with internships, language classes or travel abroad.
The present is always the starting point for any action. The present is current, a result of what was decided, of what has been done, of action taken. To understand the present means to first understand how it became what it is, to understand its history.
Before Germans can be persuaded by any future action, they have to be convinced that the presenter has understood the present – the starting point – via its past.