wtfeWays They Frame Engineering
日本語

Germanyvsthe Netherlands

ドイツとオランダDENL

Seen from Germany: each line below describes the Netherlands relative to Germany.

Swap: see Germany from the Netherlands

Culture Map: eight scales

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

Filled dot: Germany, where you are looking fromHollow ring: the Netherlands

Where you will notice the difference5 scales

  1. Leading

    The Netherlands keeps less distance between boss and team than Germany (3 steps)

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

  2. Persuading

    The Netherlands wants examples and the conclusion before the theory more than Germany (2 steps)

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

  3. Evaluating

    The Netherlands gives negative feedback more directly than Germany (1 step)

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

  4. Deciding

    The Netherlands decides by group agreement more than Germany (1 step)

    Germany −1, the Netherlands −2, on a line from −3 (Consensual) to +3 (Top-down).

  5. Scheduling

    The Netherlands treats plans as more flexible than Germany (1 step)

    Germany −3, the Netherlands −2, on a line from −3 (Linear time) to +3 (Flexible time).

Where you are close3 scales

  1. Communicating

    Germany and the Netherlands sit on the same step

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

  2. Trusting

    Germany and the Netherlands sit on the same step

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

  3. Disagreeing

    Germany and the Netherlands sit on the same step

    Germany −2, the Netherlands −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 the Netherlands. They describe national averages, not either country's character.

  1. Motivation towards achievement and success

    The Netherlands scores 52 points lower than Germany (14 against 66)

    Germany 66, the Netherlands 14, on a line from 0 (Consensus-oriented) to 100 (Decisive).

  2. Indulgence

    The Netherlands scores 28 points higher than Germany (68 against 40)

    Germany 40, the Netherlands 68, on a line from 0 (Restrained) to 100 (Indulgent).

  3. Individualism

    The Netherlands scores 21 points higher than Germany (100 against 79)

    Germany 79, the Netherlands 100, on a line from 0 (Collectivist) to 100 (Individualist).

  4. Uncertainty avoidance

    The Netherlands scores 12 points lower than Germany (53 against 65)

    Germany 65, the Netherlands 53, on a line from 0 (Tolerant of ambiguity) to 100 (Avoids ambiguity).

  5. Long-term orientation

    The Netherlands scores 10 points higher than Germany (67 against 57)

    Germany 57, the Netherlands 67, on a line from 0 (Short-term) to 100 (Long-term).

  6. Power distance

    The Netherlands scores 3 points higher than Germany (38 against 35)

    Germany 35, the Netherlands 38, on a line from 0 (Low power distance) to 100 (High power distance).

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 the Netherlands, side by side on wide screens. Each keeps its own confidence label and citations.

Design & quality

Germany2 claims

Netherlands2 claims

Failure & risk

Germany5 claims

Netherlands2 claims

  • ING moved to a Spotify-style structure of squads and tribes in 2015. In a McKinsey interview (2017), it described each tribe writing down its results and biggest learnings every quarter and celebrating both successes and failures.

    Attested1 source2017nl-failure-1

  • According to Thomke (HBR, 2020), only about 10% of Booking.com's experiments produce positive results; the other 90% or so do not support the hypothesis. The company runs its experiments on that assumption.

    Attested1 source2020nl-failure-2

Feedback & code review

Germany3 claims

Netherlands2 claims

Hierarchy & decisions

Germany3 claims

Netherlands3 claims

Communication & docs

Germany3 claims

Netherlands2 claims

Work & careers

Germany5 claims

Netherlands2 claims

Open source & community

Germany5 claims

Netherlands2 claims