If processes and procedures make up the manual governing the inner workings of a company, whoever writes that manual determines how the work is done. This is especially the case in industrial sectors where processes are essential to the development, manufacturing, installation and service of complex products. …

Processes are most effective when they maintain a balance between conformity and flexibility. Germans prefer generally formulated processes allowing for interpretation based on the parameters of a specific situation. Judgement calls are driven by training and experience. American Approach Like their Germans colleagues, Americans too seek that fine line between…

For Germans goal and the path to the goal are almost indistinguishable. The product and the processes which lead to the product are two sides of the same coin. A work result (an output or literally a product or service) is only as good as the processes which produced it…

Deductive thinking is inference in which the conclusion about particulars follows necessarily from general or universal premises. German processes and procedures are arrived at more deductively than inductively, based on standards and norms — based on the ideal — which give guidance on how to do the work. American Approach …

Question “Before making a commitment, before giving a yes, our German colleagues like as much clarity as possible up-front. However, developing opportunities in the U.S. business context is an on-going, interative process together with the customer. The goal is to understand and define their needs. In other words, the nature…

Question “I like my German colleagues. They are intelligent, focused, hard-working. But sometimes they can really get in your face. I experience, and observe, that they give other colleagues advice, whether it was asked for or not. I find this rather annoying, at times even arrogant. Why do they do…

Yes, it is true. Often Germans give unsolicited advice. Unsolicited. Not asked for. We Americans, to put it mildly, are not terribly big fans of receiving unsolicited advice. We find it arrogant, insulting, uncalled for. We only very seldom give it. …

Question “Why do Germans believe that there can be only one right solution?” John Magee This is a complex question. Let’s pull it apart and focus on a few key aspects. Alle Wege führen nach Rom There’s more than one way to skin a cat, an American idiom which communicates…