words – Page 6 – understand-culture

Products thinking with

Mitdenken – thinking with – meaning thoughtful, deliberate, reasoned action taking into consideration possible advantages and disadvantages, is clearly a German character trait. It should not be a surprise that there are How-to books advising managers on how to think with.

Along with people in Germany who think with there are also products in Germany which think with, developed to make life easier, safer and more comfortable.

They are often referred to in English as smart. Smart packaging which inform consumers about the product. Smart materials in eyeglasse which dim when sunlight is too bright. Smart wind turbines which turn automatically to the wind in order optimize electricity gain.

Smart automobiles whose steering wheel notices if the driver is falling asleep and sets off an alarm. Such cars also have smart headlights which adjust to oncoming traffic and read speed limit signs and inform the driver.

Mitdenken

Mitdenken – literally mit with + denken thinking. With-thinking or thinking with. A very German word. There is hardly a German who has not heard this word repeatedly, from their parents, in school, from their driving instructor, or their boss. They all stress, expect, demand Mitdenken. But what does Mitdenken mean?

Duden, one of Germany’s most prestigious dictionaries, offers a brief but complex definition: „etwas denkend bei einer Tätigkeit nachvollziehen.” Literally: “something thinking during a task comprehending.”

Grammatically this formulation does not work in English. Its meaning, however, is: while you are performing a task, a job, an activity, be aware of how and why you are doing it, in the sense that you are recapitulating or reproducing in your mind how and why the task should be done in a certain way.

Duden also states: “nicht gedankenlos, sondern mit Überlegung vorgehen.“ This is easier to understand. Literally: “not thoughtless, but with Überlegung (consideration, reflection, thought, observation, deliberation) proceed.” In other words, think through carefully what you do while you are doing it.

A German online dictionary states: “think clearly about what is to be done; for this work we need someone, who can think-with; students should learn to think-with; we need young people who can think-with.”

Mitdenken is also defined as „etwas mit anderen Gedanken zusammen denken” – literally: “something with other thoughts combined think.” Meaning: to think about something while combining other thoughts with it.

Wirkung

Effizient. Latin efficiens, efficient; a large effect based on little effort; to achieve much with less; economic, economical.

Wirkung. Effect, output, results; a change realized by energy, effort, input; infuence; a sustained, positive effect.

Wirtschaftlich. Economical; concerning the economy; monetary, financial; to work intelligently; to be frugal, to save money; to achieve the maximum based on available resources.

Weniger ist mehr. Less is more. To focus on the essence, on the core. Functionality trumps design, thus saving time, resources, money. Often heard in the fields of design and architecture.

Effizient, nicht effektiv arbeiten. Work efficiently, not just effectively. A figure of speech often heard in the German workplace, meaning to do more than reach your goals by doing it efficiently.

Kleine Ursache, große Wirkung. Literally small cause, large effect. A figure of speech pointing out how small things – good and bad – can lead to very significant outcomes. In the German context it is a warning to pay close attention to the details of one‘s work.

Was nicht in die Masse dringt, ist unwirksam. What doesn‘t reach the masses, is ineffective. A quote attributed to Karl Jaspers, one of Germany‘s most influential philosophers of the post-War era. It is often used in discussions about the effectiveness of advertisement.

German house

Wirkung. Effect. Wirkungsgrad. Difference between output and input. Wirtschaftlichkeit. Difference between goals reached and resources used.

In most German buildings – residential or commercial – the lights in the hallways go off automatically after a short amount of time. Switches on the walls near the doors and in the middle of the hall allow one to turn the light back on. Germans refer to the lights being on as brennen, burning, as in a candle, oil lamp or burning fuel.

Germany, with 80 million inhabitants and large portions of its territory devoted to agriculture, is the size of the American state of Montana. Germans are well versed in maximizing the use of space. Rarely is there a house or apartment in a German city or town with an attic or basement which has not been renovated for use as an additional bedroom, study or storage space.

German supermarkets, too, are rather compact. As are the packaging of consumers items, often fit to the size of the content. No oversized breakfast cereal boxes or potato chip bags.

During the cold months down blankets at night keep old and young warm and comfortable while the heat is turned down or even off. Down blankets are expensive, but they last for many years.

When walking, cycling or driving by new house construction one can see stacks of insulation material waiting patiently to make their contribution to energy conservation, their necessity legislated by state and local building codes. In fact, the German government provides generous subsidies for renewable energy sources: wind, solar, biomass.

As for electricity-gulping air conditioning, you’ll find very few residential homes outfitted with it. The majority of office buildings allow you to simply open the windows. Hazy, hot and humid weather comes to the northern and middle European climate for only a few weeks a year. The nights always cool down, allowing for buildings to take in natural air conditioning.

Repeal means Revise

The right to a speedy trial, the American expectation that conflicts within teams are resolved quickly, can indeed lead to judgements passed which are not ideal, optimal, right or even just.

Americans make decisions quickly, often hastily. But, if the decisions are narrow in scope – have been isolated – then they can be revised. There is time for reconsidering and revision. The parties involved in the decision can be brought back in.

This same logic applies to the American judicial system. It allows anyone sentenced in a court to appeal that sentence. An appeal is when the accused (and sentenced) can take their case from a lower to a higher court for review.

In the American business context, a team member who believes that the judgement is wrong, or the conflict resolution process was unfair, can ask to have that decision reviewed by next-level management or by a neutral third party within the company, typically the human resources department.

More Rules of Moderation

The Germans believe that moderation can succeed only if it makes clear to all parties involved that there will be no naming a winner and a loser.

Naming one side the loser is a guaranty that the conflict resolution will not hold, that the losing party will seek to roll back, revise, reject the resolution. True acceptance, real stability, can be achieved only if both parties come away accepting a compromise.

Akzeptieren. Latin acceptare, to accept, take on, allow, approve, recognize; to come to agreement with someone; to accept an apology, a recommendation, an idea.

Sore Losers

No culture raises its children to be sore losers: someone who cannot admit defeat, makes excuses, challenges the final results.

Americans certainly do not like a sore loser. Instead, they respect a losing political candidate, sports team, work colleague who admits defeat, neither blames others, nor complains about the election, game or job being „unfair.“

In fact, in America many a (temporary) loser has come back to become a winner, primarily because they blamed themselves, looked at their own errors, and then corrected them. And they remained persistent.

The converse is the gracious winner: the person, team or organization which does not boast, brag or celebrate in an exaggerated way. Most importantly, gracious winners go out of their way to compliment, even praise, their opponent. Gracious winners stay small, don‘t puff themselves up. Modesty.

Sore: causing pain or distress; painfully sensitive; tender, hurt or inflamed so as to be or seem painful; attended by difficulties, hardship, or exertion; angry, irked. From Middle English sor, from Old English sār; akin to Old High German sēr sore and probably to Old Irish saeth distress.

Gracious: marked by kindness and courtesy, tact and delicacy; characterized by charm, good taste, generosity of spirit, and the tasteful leisure of wealth and good breeding. Latin gratiosus, enjoying favor, agreeable, from gratia.

Verdict

Verdict: The finding or decision of a jury on the matter submitted to it in trial; opinion, judgement. Middle English verdit, verdict. From Anglo-French veirdit, true + dictum.

Accept: To receive willingly; to give admittance or approval to; to endure without protest or reaction; to recognize as true; to make a favorable response to; to agree to undertake. Middle English, from Anglo-French accepter, from Latin acceptare, accipere to receive, from ad- + capere to take.

Revenge: To avenge (as oneself) usually by retaliating in kind or degree; to inflict injury in return for. From Anglo-French revenger, revengier, from re- + venger to avenge.

Grudge: To be unwilling to give or admit; give or allow reluctantly or resentfully. Middle English grucchen, grudgen to grumble, complain, from Middle High German grogezen, to howl.

Underdog

One reason why Americans don’t mind losing an argument is that once they lose, they can be seen as the underdog. Underdogs are people who are considered unlikely to win. There is a long history in America of the Underdog finding support and overcoming difficult odds to ultimately win in the end.

In the 1960s and 1970s a cartoon superhero series about an underdog (that was even called “Underdog”) was very popular.

In 1980 the US Olympic hockey team, which was comprised of young and inexperienced players, played against the seasoned Russian Olympic team. Even though the Russian team was highly favored to win, the American team ultimately defeated them. This event later inspired the 2004 film “Miracle.”

Cowboys, as lone travelers in a foreign land, were often the underdogs in the cowboy/Indian conflicts in early American history, yet many of them were able to overcome the difficulties and survive.

At age 13, Bobby Fischer won a chess match against one of the leading American chess masters. That match became known as the “Game of the Century.”

underdog: a loser or predicted loser in a struggle or contest; a victim of injustice or persecution: a less powerful person or thing that struggles against a more powerful person or thing.

Robert Frost, the celebrated American poet, wrote in 1928: „I’m a poor underdog. But tonight I will bark with the great Overdog. That romps through the dark.“

Appeal

The American judicial system allows anyone sentenced in a court to appeal that sentence. An appeal is when the accused (and sentenced) can take their case from a lower to a higher court for review.