Agreements – Page 9 – understand-culture

“They pay their bills“

The German newspaper, Die Welt, complimented the Chinese highly when it wrote that they pay for their Mercedes Benz automobiles on-time. Zahlungsmoral literally means payment morals.

Zuverlässigkeit is not only a human, but also a product characteristic. Germans expect dependability and durability, especially in technical areas. German power producers constantly stress the Zuverlässigkeit of their nuclear power plants.

Infrastructure in Germany is expected to have 100% Zuverlässigkeit. Brown- or blackouts of the electricity grids occur very rarely. The telephone network almost never fails. Lack of reliability in Germany quickly leads to protests by customers and citizens.

Tausend gute Taten machen keine schlechte gut. A thousand good deeds don‘t make up for one bad one. Wenn ich mich auf Dich verlasse, bin ich verlassen. To be dependent on you means to have been abandoned.

Unzuverlässigkeit is the opposite of Zuverlässigkeit. In the German context, to be labeled unreliable or undependable is a serious criticism, a flaw not easily removed. Unreliable people are not trusted, their reputation is damaged. It is the same for unreliable products.

If commitments are not met it is imperative to prove that external factors were the cause. Unzuverlässigkeit – unreliability – costs time and money and increases risk, which Germans do their best to keep at a minimum.

A German reporting from a state in the former Soviet Union: “The same problems keep repeating themselves. Aspects of important agreements are changed suddenly, which is not a problem as long as everyone is informed quickly. In team meetings we agree to a schedule, which shortly thereafter is not held to due to delays in the delivery of material, which had been ordered two weeks late. When we then contact other sources we find out that they are out of stock. Our work processes get written down, but within a month or two no one knows where they are or what they mean.”

Germans have great difficulty dealing with lack of reliability. Even with their own high standards do they have their problems. Compared to other countries, public transportation in Germany is very reliable. But not dependable enough for the Germans. The same goes for weather forecasts, an imprecise science. Not reliable.

Yes Signals

Germans focus on so-called Knackpunkte – literally snap or break points – those areas, which if they fail, all fails. The German yes is often given conditionally or with a warning: “We can do that, assuming that ….”, or “That would be possible, but only if ….”, or “At the moment we cannot give you a 100% guarantee, because ….”. By stating there is inherent risk involved, Germans are sharing the risk with the other party to the agreement.

“Good things need their time”

The German expression Gut Ding will Weile haben – good things need their time – states that things which are supposed to turn out good will need some time. This becomes clear especially when important decisions are to be addressed:

“Quality before speed: Merkel pulls the brakes at the introduction of new supervision of European banks.” (Handelsblatt 17.2.2015)

“The German Handball Federation President Bauer: “Quality comes before speed.“ (Lahner Zeitung 20.6.2014)

“NPD-Ban: Quality before speed.” (Hamburger Abendblatt 9.12.2011)

No news is bad news

No one likes cancellations or major modifications. Certainly not Germans. But they deal with them openly and quickly, making the necessary adjustments, including informing as soon as possible any and all people whose work is effected by the change. Colleagues who hear about cancellations, changes, or modifications late or via third parties feel insulted, and that their work has been degraded.

Particularly in German politics bad news is often communicated via the media. A politician who is failing or has become unpopular and is to be fired from their position might hear about it from the news media first. For them it is doubly hurtful. To inform people quickly is a sign of professionalism and respect for the other person. Delays are interpreted as tactical maneuvering, as a loss of trust.

Figures of speech: Einem Information aus der Nase ziehen. To pull information out of the other person’s nose. Wissen ist Macht. Knowledge is power. Information bunkern. To bunker or hoard information.

Angry shop owners. A brief article in a German regional newspaper. “Hardly any of the townsfolk are angry about the construction site. Traffic has to be redirected. Parking spaces have been reduced. The citizens of the town take it all in stride.

What makes them angry, however, is the lack of information communicated by the town government. Particularly the shop owners are angry whenever they are informed late about construction work done in their street. And some residents are irritated because they could not inform companies from out of town in time who are delivering furniture and such.“

Fehlerkultur

Fehlerkultur – literally failure-culture – is defined by sociologists as the way in which societies react to failure (mistakes) and to those who commit them. A German psychologist took a closer look at Fehlerkultur within German companies.

In the past, innovation in Germany, he wrote, was the product of a long collective decision making process. The great inventions of the Industrial Revolution in Germany were very seldom the result of an individual genius, but instead the achievement of groups of men and women.

Problems (mistakes, errors, failures) were identified, analyzed and solved collectively, as a group. The final product was ausgereift – technically mature, well-engineered, sophisticated. American-styled “trial and error” does not exist in German thinking, which is why there is no accurate German translation for it.

The negative side of this German national-cultural strength is that a systematic, perfection-oriented group approach to solving problems (to innovation) requires patience and time. And time is not always offorded by today’s rapid market developments.

It is in such circumstances, according to the study, that the Germans inclination to blame those who take risks and inevitably make mistakes comes stronger into play.

Mistakes are deemed almost as a personal and professional transgression which demand being exposed, and the perpetrator punished. This heightens even more the innate German fear of commiting errors, which in turn stymies creative thinking.

Information Overload

Much more than Germans, Americans suffer from a condition they call information overload. If Americans receive all of the information about a project right from the beginning, they’ll try to reduce the information by ignoring anything that doesn’t seem immediately important. Ultimately they will typically only remember the pieces that seem most pertinent to them.

When information is important, Americans tend to give it away in small pieces, stressing each item individually. This way, no matter how much the other person suffers from information overload he/she is certain to remember the material.

Information overload: an excess of incoming information, as might confront a pedestrian on a crowded city street, that forces one to be selective in the information received and retained; an overwhelming feeling upon the receipt or collection of an indigestible or incomprehensible amount of information, the feeling of being faced with an amount of data that one has no hope of completely processing.

This phrase was popularized by Alvin Toffler in 1970.

BER

The Berlin-Brandenburg Airport is a topic surrounded by discord. There is no end in sight for this odyssey. The costs just continue to rise into incalculable sums. This caused the association of taxpayers to heavily criticize the politicians responsible for it in 2012.

The airport was a manifest of poor planning, mismanagement, incomplete construction plans, and expenses beyond the budget. The association of taxpayers blacklisted the overseeing committee of high-ranking representatives from Berlin and Brandenburg and the federal government, accusing them of political failure and blind trust in the underqualified management” of the airport.

On their Own

To be given a task in Germany is a form of advanced praise. It signals that one has the ability to complete it properly. It is a sign of competence. Every new task is also an opportunity to demonstrate that ability, perhaps even to surprise the boss and other colleagues with exceptional work results.

For Germans define themselves very much through their work. Recognition for solid work is for many just as important as compensation. A job well done in the German context, however, is work done independently, on one’s own. Help now and then from the team lead or advice from colleagues are seen as bothersome, unnecessary, possibly even hostile, as a form of doubt that the personal can do solid work, on their own.

Lästig, bothersome. Germans find follow up annoying, both for the team member who has to report on the status of their work, as well as for the team lead who has to ask if the work is being done properly. Both parties believe that they have better things to do. Namely, their work.

Figures of speech: Viele Köche verderben den Brei. Too many cooks ruin the porridge. Dazwischen Funken. Literally, to radio in intermittently. Figuratively, to stick your nose in someone else’s business.

“Get skeptical!“

Skepsis is a commonly used word in German. The media, for example, uses it often: “German skepticism about the future of the Euro is increasing.” German skepsis here. German skepsis there. The broad population is always skeptical about things new.

To be skeptical from the outset is a legitimate approach in the German culture. To be skeptical is to be critical-minded. It means to take an objective, distanced view of things. It is neutral. One doesn’t have to take sides.

Germans are critical especially when it comes to their health: gene manipulated food products, electronic smog, chemical fertilizers, technical products which may or may not function properly.

It can appear as if Germans were fearful of all things new. Not true. They are simply aware, perhaps over-aware, of what they don’t know or of which questions remain unanswered. Germans will often say “Let’s not badmouth everything. Let’s just remain skeptical.” So how do Germans view the future? With a healthy portion of skepsis.

“Communicate immediately!“

Germans expect to be informed immediately about any changes which impact the agreements they have entered into. From their perspective all agreements, large and small, involve interconnected activities among colleagues, including at times business partners and customers. A change in one area has immediate effect on the others, thus helping or hindering those colleagues in their work.

Although the majority of German work is based on time, they do not like to work on anything which will not be used. They expect to be informed as soon as possible about any changes to an agreement which affect their work. There is also the potential that they will suspect people of being political with important information. The sooner changes to an agreement are communicated to all parties, the better.

Figures of speech: Etwas ist zwecklos. Something is purpose-less. Ohne Sinn und Zweck. Without meaning and purpose. Für den Papierkorb arbeiten. Working for the trashcan.

Germans also strive to understand their work in the broader context, what impact their results have on those of other colleagues. They often say Alles hängt mit allem zusammen or everything is connected to everything else. If a colleague is on vacation, their tasks are divided up among a few other team members. Potential problems are discussed and prepared for beforehand. Responding to inquiries with the colleague is on vacation is a sign of incompetence and unprofessionalism.