Consensus vs. Top-Down

“As a practical matter, how does German consensus-style decision making differ from the American top-down approach? Is it more efficient? Does it produce better results? Is it easier to implement because of the buy-in of all the parties? Can these factors even be measured?”

Careful vs. Aggressive

“The German business culture is reluctant to commit to projects which have unknowns and are not guaranteed to succeed. The American business culture is under constant pressure to produce results. Americans can appear to be pushy, emotional and fiery. How can we reconcile the two approaches? “

Still persuade me

“How is it that certain Americans ﹣ although they do not understand the subject matter as well as their German counterparts, and have less experience ﹣ are still able to persuade me that their concept, product or service is better?”

Disney Store

“In the Disney Store the young saleswomen dressed as Mickey Mouse were so nice, so sweet to us and our children, as if they wanted to take us in their arms and cuddle with us. Just as quickly, however, it became clear that it was all show. That sudden realization could under certain circumstances lead to Kauf-Unlust (purchase-aversion, -reluctance, -disinclination), after having been so ‘touched’, and given in the impression that you are the greatest customer in the store. Am I being too critical?”

Come and go

“Whereas most American colleagues participate for the full duration of a meeting, other American colleagues come and go. Why?”

Get to 90%

“In so many cases our American colleagues seem perfectly satisfied with an 80% technical solution. Ok, we Germans don’t always have to aim for 99%. But, how can we get our team in the U.S. to strive for at least 90%?”

Judgement calls

“Often our colleagues in the U.S. seem to follow processes and procedures slavishly, even when it is obvious that the situation requires deviation. Why are they not capable of making the necessary judgement calls based on the situation?”

Undisciplined

“On the American side there are far more processes and procedues than on our German side. And everything is documented in great detail. Yet time and again our American colleagues don’t follow what has been documented. Can someone please explain this to us?”

Micromanagement

“We Germans in the team like and respect our American team-lead. However, she wants to be involved in the details our work. She is micromanaging us and we don’t like it. We hear the same complaint from German colleagues in other teams led by an American. What’s going on here?”