wtfeWays They Frame Engineering
日本語

The NetherlandsvsJapan

オランダと日本NLJP

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

Swap: see the Netherlands from Japan

Culture Map: eight scales

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

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

Where you will notice the difference6 scales

  1. Evaluating

    Japan gives negative feedback more indirectly than the Netherlands (6 steps)

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

  2. Leading

    Japan keeps more distance between boss and team than the Netherlands (6 steps)

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

  3. Communicating

    Japan leaves more to be read between the lines than the Netherlands (5 steps)

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

  4. Disagreeing

    Japan avoids open disagreement more than the Netherlands (5 steps)

    The Netherlands −2, Japan +3, on a line from −3 (Confrontational) to +3 (Avoids confrontation).

  5. Trusting

    Japan builds trust through personal relationships more than the Netherlands (3 steps)

    The Netherlands −2, Japan +1, on a line from −3 (Task-based) to +3 (Relationship-based).

  6. Deciding

    Japan decides by group agreement more than the Netherlands (1 step)

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

Where you are close1 scale

  1. Scheduling

    The Netherlands and Japan sit on the same step

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

Not placed1 scale

These scales are left unmarked: either Meyer leaves a country off the scale or no source places it, and drawing it anyway would be guessing.

  • PersuadingMeyer leaves Japan off this scale and describes its reasoning as holistic
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 Japan. They describe national averages, not either country's character.

  1. Motivation towards achievement and success

    Japan scores 81 points higher than the Netherlands (95 against 14)

    The Netherlands 14, Japan 95, on a line from 0 (Consensus-oriented) to 100 (Decisive).

  2. Uncertainty avoidance

    Japan scores 39 points higher than the Netherlands (92 against 53)

    The Netherlands 53, Japan 92, on a line from 0 (Tolerant of ambiguity) to 100 (Avoids ambiguity).

  3. Individualism

    Japan scores 38 points lower than the Netherlands (62 against 100)

    The Netherlands 100, Japan 62, on a line from 0 (Collectivist) to 100 (Individualist).

  4. Long-term orientation

    Japan scores 33 points higher than the Netherlands (100 against 67)

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

  5. Indulgence

    Japan scores 26 points lower than the Netherlands (42 against 68)

    The Netherlands 68, Japan 42, on a line from 0 (Restrained) to 100 (Indulgent).

  6. Power distance

    Japan scores 16 points higher than the Netherlands (54 against 38)

    The Netherlands 38, Japan 54, 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 Japan, side by side on wide screens. Each keeps its own confidence label and citations.

Design & quality

Netherlands2 claims

Japan4 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

Japan3 claims

Feedback & code review

Netherlands2 claims

Japan4 claims

Hierarchy & decisions

Netherlands3 claims

Japan3 claims

Communication & docs

Netherlands2 claims

Japan3 claims

Work & careers

Netherlands2 claims

Japan5 claims

Open source & community

Netherlands2 claims

Japan4 claims