After big football matches, German newspapers publish an Einzelkritik, an individual review. Each player gets a school grade from 1 to 6 and a one-line verdict. After Bayern Munich’s Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid in April 2012, the Munich Abendzeitung gave goalkeeper Manuel Neuer a 1: Im Elferschießen dann der Held des Abends, then the hero of the evening in the penalty shoot-out. Philipp Lahm got a 2: Kurbelte viele Angriffe nach vorne an, got many attacks going.
Criticize the Work, Not the Person
Hart in der Sache, weich zum Menschen — hard on the matter, soft on the person. A common German rule for criticism. The SPD’s party school uses the variant Hart in der Sache, fair zu den Menschen, hard on the matter, fair to the people.
sachlich bleiben — to stay factual, to keep to the matter
sachliche Kritik — criticism of the matter
Kritisieren Sie immer die Verhaltensweisen — always criticize the behavior, never the traits, as a management guide for dental practices advises
The first motto is the German form of a principle from the Harvard negotiation method of Roger Fisher and William Ury, published in 1981 as Getting to Yes.
The Works Council Chief Before 25,000
On 4 September 2024 the Volkswagen board defended its savings plans before 25,000 employees at a staff assembly in Wolfsburg. At the same assembly, the head of the works council, Daniela Cavallo, said: Volkswagen krankt daran, dass der Vorstand seinen Job nicht macht. Volkswagen is ailing because the board is not doing its job. She called the plans an Armutszeugnis, literally a certificate of poverty, a proof of failure. The chief financial officer told the workforce that the company had one year, perhaps two, to change course. On 20 December 2024 Volkswagen and the IG Metall union reached an agreement.
Whoever Dishes It Out
austeilen — to hand out. Duden gives an informal sense: to criticize sharply, as in sie kann ganz schön austeilen, she can really dish it out.
Wer austeilt, muss auch einstecken können. — Whoever dishes it out must also be able to take it.
einstecken — to pocket: to accept something without fighting back. Duden’s examples include Kritik einstecken, to take criticism.
ein dickes Fell haben — to have a thick hide, to be thick-skinned
keine Kritik vertragen — to be unable to take criticism
unter aller Kritik — beneath all criticism, very bad
Judged by Number, Not by Name
In a German public architecture competition run under the federal Guideline for Planning Competitions of 2013, the jury does not know whose design it is judging. Under the guideline, each participant marks every part of the entry only with a Kennzahl, a code number. The entries stay anonymous until the jury has decided. The jury assesses the shortlisted designs in writing, and the decision is recorded in minutes. Afterwards all entries are exhibited in public with the authors’ names, together with the minutes.
One in Three Is Often Praised
In the 2018 Employment Survey of two federal institutes, the BIBB and the BAuA, only one employee in three reported frequent recognition and praise from superiors. About six in ten said that they often received support from their manager. The trade unions’ Good Work Index of the same year found that 32 percent of employees received little or no appreciation at work.
Booed Staging, Cheered Singers
In July 2016 large parts of the audience at the Bayreuth Festival loudly booed Frank Castorf’s staging of Wagner’s Siegfried. On the same evening they cheered the singers frenetically. The conductor, Marek Janowski, received a Jubelsturm, a storm of cheers.
The Right to Hear How One Is Judged
Under Section 82 of the Works Constitution Act, an employee can demand that the employer discuss with him die Beurteilung seiner Leistungen, the assessment of his performance, and his chances of development in the company. He may bring a member of the works council. He may also comment on any measure of the employer that affects him. Section 83 gives him the right to see his personnel file. If he disagrees with something in it, such as a written warning, he can write a reply, the Gegendarstellung. Erklärungen des Arbeitnehmers zum Inhalt der Personalakte sind dieser auf sein Verlangen beizufügen. At his request, the employee’s statements on the file must be added to it.
Our Cover Is Not Good
Germany opened the 2018 World Cup on 17 June with a 0:1 defeat against Mexico. Right after the match, the defender Mats Hummels named the fault in public: Unsere Absicherung steht nicht gut. Oft sind nur Jerome und ich hinten. Our cover is not good. Often only Jérôme Boateng and I are at the back. When seven or eight players attack, he said, the attacking force is greater than the defensive stability. He had already raised the point inside the team: Das, was ich intern oft anspreche, fruchtet anscheinend noch nicht so ganz. What I often raise internally is apparently not quite working yet. Germany lost its last group match 0:2 to South Korea and went out last in the group.
Eggs, We Need Eggs
In November 2003 Bayern Munich lost a league match at Schalke 04. Afterwards the goalkeeper Oliver Kahn said: Eier, wir brauchen Eier. Eggs, we need eggs. Eier is slang for testicles, and here for courage and fight. The line names no one. Kahn said wir, we. The line is probably his most famous saying. In 2016 the broadcaster Sky Sport News HD used it in a promotional spot built on legendary football sayings. In November 2022 Kahn, by then Bayern’s chief executive, alluded to it again before Germany played Spain at the World Cup.