wtfeWays They Frame Engineering
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FrancevsGermany

フランスとドイツFRDE

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

Swap: see France from Germany

Culture Map: eight scales

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

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

Where you will notice the difference7 scales

  1. Communicating

    Germany spells things out more explicitly than France (3 steps)

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

  2. Scheduling

    Germany sticks to fixed plans and deadlines more than France (3 steps)

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

  3. Persuading

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

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

  4. Deciding

    Germany decides by group agreement more than France (2 steps)

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

  5. Trusting

    Germany builds trust through reliable work more than France (2 steps)

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

  6. Evaluating

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

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

  7. Leading

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

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

Where you are close1 scale

  1. Disagreeing

    France and Germany sit on the same step

    France −2, Germany −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 France and Germany. They describe national averages, not either country's character.

  1. Power distance

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

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

  2. Motivation towards achievement and success

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

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

  3. Uncertainty avoidance

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

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

  4. Indulgence

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

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

  5. Individualism

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

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

  6. Long-term orientation

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

    France 60, Germany 57, 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 France and Germany, side by side on wide screens. Each keeps its own confidence label and citations.

Design & quality

France3 claims

Germany2 claims

Failure & risk

France3 claims

Germany5 claims

Feedback & code review

France3 claims

Germany3 claims

Hierarchy & decisions

France2 claims

Germany3 claims

Communication & docs

France1 claim

Germany3 claims

Work & careers

France5 claims

Germany5 claims

Open source & community

France5 claims

Germany5 claims