wtfeWays They Frame Engineering
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GermanyvsFrance

ドイツとフランスDEFR

Seen from Germany: each line below describes France relative to Germany.

Swap: see Germany from France

Culture Map: eight scales

Erin Meyer's eight scales, sorted by how far apart Germany and France sit, largest gap first.

Filled dot: Germany, where you are looking fromHollow ring: France

Where you will notice the difference7 scales

  1. Communicating

    France leaves more to be read between the lines than Germany (3 steps)

    Germany −2, France +1, on a line from −3 (Low-context) to +3 (High-context).

  2. Scheduling

    France treats plans as more flexible than Germany (3 steps)

    Germany −3, France 0, on a line from −3 (Linear time) to +3 (Flexible time).

  3. Persuading

    France wants the theory before the conclusion more than Germany (2 steps)

    Germany −1, France −3, on a line from −3 (Principles-first) to +3 (Applications-first).

  4. Deciding

    France leaves decisions to the person in charge more than Germany (2 steps)

    Germany −1, France +1, on a line from −3 (Consensual) to +3 (Top-down).

  5. Trusting

    France builds trust through personal relationships more than Germany (2 steps)

    Germany −2, France 0, on a line from −3 (Task-based) to +3 (Relationship-based).

  6. Evaluating

    France gives negative feedback more indirectly than Germany (1 step)

    Germany −2, France −1, on a line from −3 (Direct negative feedback) to +3 (Indirect negative feedback).

  7. Leading

    France keeps more distance between boss and team than Germany (1 step)

    Germany 0, France +1, on a line from −3 (Egalitarian) to +3 (Hierarchical).

Where you are close1 scale

  1. Disagreeing

    Germany and France sit on the same step

    Germany −2, France −2, on a line from −3 (Confrontational) to +3 (Avoids confrontation).

Positions are read by eye from Erin Meyer's published charts and rounded to seven steps. A step means “further towards that pole”, not a measured distance. How the positions were read

Hofstede: six dimensions

Scores from 0 to 100, sorted by the gap between Germany and France. They describe national averages, not either country's character.

  1. Power distance

    France scores 33 points higher than Germany (68 against 35)

    Germany 35, France 68, on a line from 0 (Low power distance) to 100 (High power distance).

  2. Motivation towards achievement and success

    France scores 23 points lower than Germany (43 against 66)

    Germany 66, France 43, on a line from 0 (Consensus-oriented) to 100 (Decisive).

  3. Uncertainty avoidance

    France scores 21 points higher than Germany (86 against 65)

    Germany 65, France 86, on a line from 0 (Tolerant of ambiguity) to 100 (Avoids ambiguity).

  4. Indulgence

    France scores 8 points higher than Germany (48 against 40)

    Germany 40, France 48, on a line from 0 (Restrained) to 100 (Indulgent).

  5. Individualism

    France scores 5 points lower than Germany (74 against 79)

    Germany 79, France 74, on a line from 0 (Collectivist) to 100 (Individualist).

  6. Long-term orientation

    France scores 3 points higher than Germany (60 against 57)

    Germany 57, France 60, on a line from 0 (Short-term) to 100 (Long-term).

Country averages. About 80% of variation in values is between people inside a country (Taras et al. 2016).Source: The Culture Factor — Country comparison tool (2026).About the Hofstede dimensions

What the sources say, theme by theme

Entries for Germany and France, side by side on wide screens. Each keeps its own confidence label and citations.

Design & quality

Germany2 claims

France3 claims

Failure & risk

Germany5 claims

France3 claims

Feedback & code review

Germany3 claims

France3 claims

Hierarchy & decisions

Germany3 claims

France2 claims

Communication & docs

Germany3 claims

France1 claim

Work & careers

Germany5 claims

France5 claims

Open source & community

Germany5 claims

France5 claims