wtfeWays They Frame Engineering
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The NetherlandsvsGermany

オランダとドイツNLDE

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

Swap: see the Netherlands from Germany

Culture Map: eight scales

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

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

Where you will notice the difference5 scales

  1. Leading

    Germany keeps more distance between boss and team than the Netherlands (3 steps)

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

  2. Persuading

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

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

  3. Evaluating

    Germany gives negative feedback more indirectly than the Netherlands (1 step)

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

  4. Deciding

    Germany leaves decisions to the person in charge more than the Netherlands (1 step)

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

  5. Scheduling

    Germany sticks to fixed plans and deadlines more than the Netherlands (1 step)

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

Where you are close3 scales

  1. Communicating

    The Netherlands and Germany sit on the same step

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

  2. Trusting

    The Netherlands and Germany sit on the same step

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

  3. Disagreeing

    The Netherlands and Germany sit on the same step

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

  1. Motivation towards achievement and success

    Germany scores 52 points higher than the Netherlands (66 against 14)

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

  2. Indulgence

    Germany scores 28 points lower than the Netherlands (40 against 68)

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

  3. Individualism

    Germany scores 21 points lower than the Netherlands (79 against 100)

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

  4. Uncertainty avoidance

    Germany scores 12 points higher than the Netherlands (65 against 53)

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

  5. Long-term orientation

    Germany scores 10 points lower than the Netherlands (57 against 67)

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

  6. Power distance

    Germany scores 3 points lower than the Netherlands (35 against 38)

    The Netherlands 38, Germany 35, 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 the Netherlands and Germany, side by side on wide screens. Each keeps its own confidence label and citations.

Design & quality

Netherlands2 claims

Germany2 claims

Failure & risk

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

Germany5 claims

Feedback & code review

Netherlands2 claims

Germany3 claims

Hierarchy & decisions

Netherlands3 claims

Germany3 claims

Communication & docs

Netherlands2 claims

Germany3 claims

Work & careers

Netherlands2 claims

Germany5 claims

Open source & community

Netherlands2 claims

Germany5 claims