wtfeWays They Frame Engineering
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The Netherlandsvsthe Nordics

オランダと北欧NLNORD

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

Swap: see the Netherlands from the Nordics

Culture Map: eight scales

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

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

Where you will notice the difference2 scales

  1. Evaluating

    The Nordics give negative feedback more indirectly than the Netherlands (2 steps)

    NORD by country: DK −1, FI −1

    The Netherlands −3, the Nordics −1, on a line from −3 (Direct negative feedback) to +3 (Indirect negative feedback).

  2. Disagreeing

    The Nordics avoid open disagreement more than the Netherlands (1 step)

    NORD by country: DK −1, SE +1

    The Netherlands −2, the Nordics −1, on a line from −3 (Confrontational) to +3 (Avoids confrontation).

Where you are close6 scales

  1. Communicating

    The Netherlands and the Nordics sit on the same step

    NORD by country: DK −2, SE −1, FI −1

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

  2. Persuading

    The Netherlands and the Nordics sit on the same step

    NORD by country: DK +1, NO +1

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

  3. Leading

    The Netherlands and the Nordics sit on the same step

    NORD by country: DK −3, SE −3, FI −2

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

  4. Deciding

    The Netherlands and the Nordics sit on the same step

    NORD by country: DK −2, SE −2

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

  5. Trusting

    The Netherlands and the Nordics sit on the same step

    NORD by country: DK −2

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

  6. Scheduling

    The Netherlands and the Nordics sit on the same step

    NORD by country: DK −2, SE −2, NO −2

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

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 the Nordics. They describe national averages, not either country's character.

The Nordics are not one country: each score is the average of four national scores (Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway).

  1. Individualism

    The Nordics score 17 points lower than the Netherlands (83 against 100)

    The Nordics: average of Sweden 87, Finland 75, Denmark 89, Norway 81

    The Netherlands 100, the Nordics 83, on a line from 0 (Collectivist) to 100 (Individualist).

  2. Uncertainty avoidance

    The Nordics score 13 points lower than the Netherlands (40 against 53)

    The Nordics: average of Sweden 29, Finland 59, Denmark 23, Norway 50

    The Netherlands 53, the Nordics 40, on a line from 0 (Tolerant of ambiguity) to 100 (Avoids ambiguity).

  3. Power distance

    The Nordics score 10 points lower than the Netherlands (28 against 38)

    The Nordics: average of Sweden 31, Finland 33, Denmark 18, Norway 31

    The Netherlands 38, the Nordics 28, on a line from 0 (Low power distance) to 100 (High power distance).

  4. Long-term orientation

    The Nordics score 10 points lower than the Netherlands (57 against 67)

    The Nordics: average of Sweden 52, Finland 63, Denmark 59, Norway 55

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

  5. Indulgence

    The Nordics score 3 points lower than the Netherlands (65 against 68)

    The Nordics: average of Sweden 78, Finland 57, Denmark 70, Norway 55

    The Netherlands 68, the Nordics 65, on a line from 0 (Restrained) to 100 (Indulgent).

  6. Motivation towards achievement and success

    The Nordics and the Netherlands both score 14

    The Nordics: average of Sweden 5, Finland 26, Denmark 16, Norway 8

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

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

Design & quality

Netherlands2 claims

The Nordics3 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

The Nordics3 claims

Feedback & code review

Netherlands2 claims

The Nordics4 claims

Hierarchy & decisions

Netherlands3 claims

The Nordics5 claims

Communication & docs

Netherlands2 claims

The Nordics3 claims

Work & careers

Netherlands2 claims

The Nordics4 claims

Open source & community

Netherlands2 claims

The Nordics5 claims