Decision-Making – Page 18 – understand-culture

Risk

German Approach

Their history as a people, their experiences as an economy, the lessons they have learned, have taught the German people to be highly sensitive to risk, to what can go wrong, to how thin their margins of error can be. Germans are careful. Examples

American Approach

Historically America has always had generous margins of error: resource rich, protected by two oceans, two neighbors posing no threat. Mistakes were seldom costly. Risk-taking often paid off. Americans take risks. Exam p les

American View

Americans find the Germans to be overly risk-averse. Decisions are made too late, too carefully, via an overly complicated process. Forward momentum is lost. Opportunities are missed.

German View

Because their American colleagues are willing to take unwarranted risk, Germans feel the responsibility to apply stringency and methodology.

Advice to Germans

Your ability to analyze is strong. You strive for objectivity. But what about your Bauchgefühl, your gut feeling, your intuition? Trust it or at least take it into consideration along with your objective analysis. Be willing to take a little more risk. There is no such thing as a perfect decision. Every decision, if made in a timely manner, can be revised.

Advice to Americans

You know that your German colleagues anticipate, calculate and react to risk in ways different than you do. It is imperative that you engage in a discussion with them about the positive and negative impact of a given decision.

Quantify (measurables) and qualify (non-measurables) the down-sides as well as the up-sides. Anticipate your assessments being askew: German focus more on what can go wrong; American focus on what can go right.

Prepare convincing and detailed arguments for why your assessment is realistic, fact-based. It is fine to rely to some degree on intuition, but be sure that you can explain the concrete experience behind that „gut feeling“

Scope

German Approach

Germans think systematically. They view a decision in its broader, interconnected context. The scope of the decision is wide. German decision-making means making several decisions at the same time. Examples

American Approach

Americans consciously break down complexity into its component parts in order to focus on what is essential. Because of that the scope of their decisions is narrow. Americans avoid interconnecting too many decisions. Examples

American View

From the American viewpoint, Germans consider too many factors not determinant in the decision making process. Time is wasted. Momemtum is endangered.

German View

Germans see Americans as moving through the decision making process impatiently, without having thought through the complexity of the issue.

Advice to Germans

Remain systematic in your approach to a decision. At the same time be more pragmatic. Narror the overall scope of your understanding of the problem. Focus on the truly relevant factors. Keep the other factors within your peripheral vision, but do not allow them to distract you from the heart of the matter.

Advice to Americans

Engage with your German colleagues in their seemingly philosophical discussion about the nature of the decision to be made. You will gain insight into their thinking. You may find a broader perspective to be of value.

Once you are a full participant in the discussion, you can influence the course of the decision from the beginning. If you feel that your German colleagues are getting a bit too systematic, considering too many factors, this is your opportunity to reign them in.

Time

German Approach

Germans believe that the time allotted to a decision should be determined by the nature of the decision. And not dictated by internal or external pressures. Germans believe that patience leads to good decisions. Examples

American Approach

In the U.S. an imperfect but fast decision is often preferred over a perfect but slow decision. Imperfect decisions can be corrected. For Americans speed is always of the essence. Examples

American View

For Americans, Germans afford themselves too much time in their decision-making processes. It is difficult to understand why their German colleagues risk angering the customer by taking additional time.

Germans appear overly conservative. From this perspective, German process discipline in decision making can appear rigid, at times in conflict with the purpose of the decision. It is as if the process were more important than the decision itself.

German View

The American tendancy to move fast in order to achieve results quickly can become a source of confusion for Germans. They often have difficulty identifying a clear logic behind the actions taken.

What Americans would term rapid response coupled with a high level of flexibility, their German colleagues would call “Aktionismus” or nervous movement without or at the expense of thought-through action.

Unfortunately, this confusion on the side of the Germans can turn into irritation if they feel blind-sided by an American “Dezisionismus” (hastily decisionism) which endangers their standards of decision-making quality and rhythm.

Advice to Germans

Your operating assumption should be that you have less time at your disposal to make a good decision. Your decision making speed should be based on the time needs of whoever benefits from your decision, whoever is the receiver of your „decision making deliverable.“

Advice to Americans

Be guarded against the cliché that Germans are slow in deciding. Their decisions tend to be further-reaching than the American approach. German colleagues or team leads will allow you more time to make a decision, provided your approach is methodical.

Use the additional time wisely. However, when you perceive the need to decide quickly, inform your German colleagues a.) why this is so, and b.) how a quick decision, if later proven to be suboptimal, can be corrected.