Civil Service Reforms (18th–19th Century). The Prussian state is famous for pioneering a professional, merit-based civil service. Reforms under Frederick the Great and later administrators emphasized: objectivity and efficiency in evaluating officials; performance-based promotions and appointments, not personal connections; a culture where professional conduct and results mattered more than personal feelings or relationships. Civil servants were expected to perform their duties impartially, and feedback on their work was formal, standardized, and focused strictly on results.
awkwardness
Stromberg (2004–2012). Context: A satirical workplace comedy (German adaptation of “The Office”). Illustration: While the show is comedic and its main character is often inappropriate, much of the humor comes from the contrast between German directness in feedback and the awkwardness of mixing personal and professional spheres. The series lampoons, but also highlights, the expectation that feedback should be about work, not personality.
DIN
German Engineering and Industrial Standards (DIN Norms, 20th Century). Germany’s reputation for engineering excellence is built on a culture of standardization, precision, and objective measurement:
The creation of DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung) standards established clear, impersonal benchmarks for performance and quality. Evaluation and feedback in industry became a matter of meeting or exceeding these standards, not personal opinion.
Product and process evaluations are based on measurable criteria, with feedback delivered in technical, unemotional terms.
Duale Ausbildung
Apprenticeship System (Duale Ausbildung). The dual education system is a model of structured, objective feedback: apprentices receive regular, formal evaluations based on skill mastery and performance; feedback is standardized, unemotional, and focused on professional development; personal feelings are set aside; the focus is on competencies and meeting professional standards.
Remembrance, Responsibility
A notable historical example of a German company successfully using neutral, performance-focused feedback is Daimler-Benz (now Mercedes-Benz Group) during its process of historical reappraisal after World War II. In the 1980s, Daimler-Benz became one of the first German companies to appoint an independent commission of experts to conduct a scientific and objective study of its activities during the Nazi era.
This approach was marked by a clear separation of personal feelings from professional responsibility, with the company focusing on facts, accountability, and measurable actions rather than emotional statements or personal blame. The findings led to formal reparations and the establishment of the industry foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future,” involving over 6,500 German companies. The process and communication were characterized by a neutral, unemotional tone, focusing on performance (in this case, historical accountability and reparations) rather than personal sentiment.
rational, impersonal
Max Weber – The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905). Though a sociological work, Weber’s analysis of rationalization and the rise of bureaucracy in German (and Western) society underpins the German approach to work and feedback. He describes a culture in which professional roles are defined by rational, impersonal rules, and performance is assessed objectively, not emotionally.
no personal sentiment
Heinrich Mann – Der Untertan (The Loyal Subject, 1918). This satirical novel examines the German tendency toward authority and order. The protagonist’s rise through the ranks is marked by strict adherence to performance expectations and formal evaluations, with little room for personal sentiment in professional interactions.
unwavering objectivity
Siegfried Lenz – Deutschstunde (The German Lesson, 1968). In this novel, the main character’s father is a policeman who enforces rules and regulations with unwavering objectivity, regardless of personal relationships. The story explores the consequences of prioritizing duty and performance over personal feelings, reflecting the German value of separating the personal from the professional.
Fair Critical Feedback
Germans consider critical feedback to be unfair if it does not include concrete recommendations on how to improve on weaknesses. They believe that people can only improve on what they understand to be suboptimal. Critial feedback, the Germans believe, should therefore be communicated clearly, avoiding any use of politically correct language.
The more objective and impersonal the critical feedback is stated, the less chance it will be taken personally. Feedback experts in Germany go as far as to view personal relationships within teams as a barrier to honest, effective feedback. They often recommend neutral third parties to facilitate particularly critical feedback discussions.
Impersonal Critique
In the German context feedback about one‘s work is in and of itself not personal. Germans – team leads as well as members – can argue vehemently about business topics and at the same time have a friendly, collegial working relationship. German management can criticize harshly an employee but still respect and personally like that individual. In Germany feedback is not personal.
In German team meetings open, honest, direct feedback is not only permitted, it is desired. Weaknesses in individual performance are addressed by team lead and members alike. The criticism, however, is not meant, and is not taken, as a personal attack, not jemandem etwas ins Gesicht sagen (to tell them off), but more to „get a it on the table“, in den Raum stellen.
Jemandem etwas ins Gesicht sagen: to say something critical to another person‘s face; to say something mean, unfair, provoking; to tell someone the unadultered truth; to give another person „a piece of your mind.“
Etwas in den Raum stellen: to put something in the room; to raise a question, a problem; to comment on, to make an observation; to bring a subject into the discussion.