Persuasion – Page 9 – understand-culture

Turned on its head

The Germans are criticized for “thinking things to death”, for overanalyzing. Deep analysis has a long and honored tradition in Germany, however. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, just as one example, wanted to turn Hegel’s philosophy “on its head.”

It is the goal of all great thinkers to explain reality as it is, and not the other way around, to force reality into their theories. All new situations and phenomena should be explainable, at a minimum placed in some logical perspective.

Thinking in systems, in connections and in mutual interdependencies is a red thread (a constant theme) in German philosophy, from Kant to Hegel to Max Weber on to Karl Popper and others of today. It is stressed in schools and universities in all subject areas.

Theoriekapitel

Theorie is theory. Kapitel is chapter, as in a book.

In German universities it is expected not only in B.A. and M.A. theses, but also in course term papers, that the second chapter, after the introduction, be devoted to theory, the so-called Theoriekapitel.

In it the author demonstrates that she is aware (conscious) of the complexity of the subject matter, that she understands that subject matter in the broader context of current research on it, and most importantly that she can durchdringen (penetrate) that complexity.

Complexity costs money !

March 13, 2015. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Germany’s leading daily newspaper. Wirtschaft (business section). Page 20. An image takes up almost the entire bottom half of the page. All sorts of computer equipment wires tangled up in a ball.

The background colors are dark, heavy. “KOMPLEXITÄT. Kostet Unternehmen im Durchschnitt 10% ihres Gewinns.” (COMPLEXITY. Costs companies on average 10% of their annual profit)

Page 21. To the right. Another image. Again, just about the entire bottom half of the page. A young woman, perhaps thirty years old, sits in jeans and a blouse, with a tablet in her hands. Half-smiling, focused. The background colors are yellowy, bright, hopeful. “EINFACH. Hilft sparen.” (SIMPLICITY. Helps saving).

At the bottom left of the secon ad: the well-known SAP logo with their motto: Run Simple. SAP. German. One of the world’s leading enterprise software companies. The message: We know how to handle complexity. Let us do it for you.

“Thought too short!“

If a German wants to discredit the statements made by another person, he can say (among other things): Das ist von Ihnen zu kurz gedacht! – literally that was “thought too short”, meaning that was not (fully) thought through.

That kind of criticism is damaging even if it is not backed up by specific points. For it accuses the other party of not having considered all possible factors in a given situation, in a decision made, in an action taken. The person criticized did not adequately analyze the situation, did not take a systematisch approach.

That certain (unimportant) factors should be ignored is not relevant to the critique. The criticism sticks: the other person didn’t consider the connections and interdependencies.

“Academics don’t like journalists“

It’s certainly a cliché in Germany to say that academics don’t like journalists. German universities are no longer just ivory towers of knowledge, for degree programs in Wissenschaftsjournalismus – literally academic-journalism – are helping the broader public to understand complex academic and scientific material.

More and more academics, including those from the natural sciences, are teaming up with journalists not only to communicate their findings, but also to gain public relations value for their themselves and their work.

Nonetheless, there are many academics who cringe at thought of being interviewed by journalists. They find it painful to hear from journalists that their work needs to be communicated publikumsgerecht – understandable for the public, for the “man on the street.”

For the academic, for the scientist, this can only mean dumbing down. They fear that the complexity will be so oversimplified that the public will not understand the overall message, its interconnections and mutual interdependencies.

Which is why German academics will always preface their statements with: “If put in a simplified way, the ….” or “In reality it is far more complex than this, but ….”

Robber Barons

Robber Barons was the name given to exceptionally successful business people in America during the late 19th and early 20th century. Most of the Robber Barons came from humble backgrounds, and started businesses at times when many industries were beginning to grow substantially.

Robber Barons were both admired as people who became rich and powerful, yet hated as monopolists who exploited their workers. In fact, these Barons were able to create such a large divide between rich and poor that Jay Gould, a gold and railroad Baron, once allegedly said “I can hire one-half of the working class to kill the other half.”

In 1890, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed, the first law enacted to limit the exploitation scope of the Robber Barons’ business practies. The Sherman Act outlawed monopolies and anything which unreasonably restricted trade, such as price fixing. Over the following decades, more business regulations were enacted, bringing the reign of the Robber Barons slowly to an end.

“No problem“

Cultures which work closely together, at some point, come up with insider jokes about each other. An insider joke is one which just about everyone in the one culture immediately understands. Hopefully, the spirit of these jokes is friendly and good-natured. The Americans have theirs about the Germans. And the Germans have theirs about the Americans.

“No problem” isn’t even a joke, it’s a phrase. More is not necessary, for every German who has experience working with Americans knows what another German means when they speak it: That Americans are often quite naive about a problem, about its seriousness, impact, complexity (from the German perspective).

So when Americans substitute the term ‘opportunity’ for the word ‘problem’, Germans can become a bit nervous. For many problems offer little to no opportunities. They are simply problems. And they need to be dealt with.

“What’s in it for me?”

The benefits need to be clear, concrete, personal. They must answer the simple question: “What’s in it for me?” When Americans make a purchase the key driver is the personal utility of the good or service.

This practical understanding of value is rooted in the United States’ most important contribution to the field of philosophy. Although Alexis de Tocqueville in Democracy in America writes: “I think that in no country in the civilized world is less attention paid to philosophy than in the United States,” the U.S. became the birthplace of pragmatism.

American thinkers Charles Sanders Pierce, John Dewey and Henry James believed that the meaning and truth of an idea is a function of its observable practical consequences. All ideas are hypotheses which must prove themselves through experience. Statements are validated through action and consequences. Americans prefer practical success – benefit – over principles.

Forward Movement

In the United States, maintaining forward movement is critical to success. Americans purposely set high goals, hoping to “stretch” themselves. And although mistakes will be made, Americans see greater progress in learning from them than in setting modest goals. To be persuasive in the American context means to propose large steps forward and a vision of the future.

Americans say “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” The 19th century philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.” Americans take action in order to make things happen.

Self-help

Americans pride themselves on being able to work through adversity, solve problems, have a positive and optimistic attitude. Americans believe in the power of motivation and self-motivation.

Self-help is deeply rooted in the American experience. Americans persuade by proposing how things can be done. “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

Coined by Elbert Green Hubbard, an American writer, publisher, artist and philosopher who was one of the most influential forces in American business in the early 20th century.