wtfeWays They Frame Engineering
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The United Statesvsthe Nordics

アメリカと北欧USNORD

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

Swap: see the United States from the Nordics

Culture Map: eight scales

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

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

Where you will notice the difference8 scales

  1. Deciding

    The Nordics decide by group agreement more than the United States (3 steps)

    NORD by country: DK −2, SE −2

    The United States +1, the Nordics −2, on a line from −3 (Consensual) to +3 (Top-down).

  2. Persuading

    The Nordics want the theory before the conclusion more than the United States (2 steps)

    NORD by country: DK +1, NO +1

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

  3. Leading

    The Nordics keep less distance between boss and team than the United States (2 steps)

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

    The United States −1, the Nordics −3, on a line from −3 (Egalitarian) to +3 (Hierarchical).

  4. Communicating

    The Nordics leave more to be read between the lines than the United States (1 step)

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

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

  5. Evaluating

    The Nordics give negative feedback more directly than the United States (1 step)

    NORD by country: DK −1, FI −1

    The United States 0, the Nordics −1, on a line from −3 (Direct negative feedback) to +3 (Indirect negative feedback).

  6. Trusting

    The Nordics build trust through personal relationships more than the United States (1 step)

    NORD by country: DK −2

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

  7. Disagreeing

    The Nordics are more willing to disagree openly than the United States (1 step)

    NORD by country: DK −1, SE +1

    The United States 0, the Nordics −1, on a line from −3 (Confrontational) to +3 (Avoids confrontation).

  8. Scheduling

    The Nordics stick to fixed plans and deadlines more than the United States (1 step)

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

    The United States −1, 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 United States 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. Motivation towards achievement and success

    The Nordics score 48 points lower than the United States (14 against 62)

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

    The United States 62, the Nordics 14, on a line from 0 (Consensus-oriented) to 100 (Decisive).

  2. Individualism

    The Nordics score 23 points higher than the United States (83 against 60)

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

    The United States 60, the Nordics 83, on a line from 0 (Collectivist) to 100 (Individualist).

  3. Power distance

    The Nordics score 12 points lower than the United States (28 against 40)

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

    The United States 40, the Nordics 28, on a line from 0 (Low power distance) to 100 (High power distance).

  4. Long-term orientation

    The Nordics score 7 points higher than the United States (57 against 50)

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

    The United States 50, the Nordics 57, on a line from 0 (Short-term) to 100 (Long-term).

  5. Uncertainty avoidance

    The Nordics score 6 points lower than the United States (40 against 46)

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

    The United States 46, the Nordics 40, on a line from 0 (Tolerant of ambiguity) to 100 (Avoids ambiguity).

  6. Indulgence

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

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

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

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

Design & quality

United States3 claims

  • At Google, engineers write a relatively informal design doc before writing code. According to Malte Ubl (2020), the point is not an exhaustive specification but a record of the trade-offs and alternatives considered.

    Thin1 source2020us-design-1

  • Ubl says a design doc should be as long as necessary and as short as possible, and distinguishes it from a heavyweight waterfall-style specification.

    Thin1 source2015Datedus-design-2

  • Meyer places the United States on the applications-first side of the Persuading scale. A book summary describes this as starting from conclusions and examples and favoring the practical how over the theoretical why.

    Thin1 sourceus-design-3

The Nordics3 claims

Failure & risk

United States2 claims

The Nordics3 claims

Feedback & code review

United States3 claims

The Nordics4 claims

Hierarchy & decisions

United States2 claims

The Nordics5 claims

Communication & docs

United States4 claims

The Nordics3 claims

Work & careers

United States5 claims

  • According to the BLS, median employee tenure in January 2024 was 3.9 years overall, the lowest since January 2002. In the private sector it was 3.5 years.

    Well attested1 source2024us-work-1

  • At-will employment is the default in every state except Montana. Unless the reason is illegal, either the employer or the employee can end the employment relationship at any time.

    Well attested1 sourceus-work-2

  • According to layoffs.fyi figures cited by TechCrunch, tech layoffs in 2024 exceeded 150,000 people at 549 companies. The peak was 2023, with about 260,000.

    Attested1 source2024us-work-3

  • In the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025, 45% of US respondents work fully remote, the highest share among the top responding countries. Median salaries were $200k for engineering managers, $175k for back-end developers, and $138k for full-stack developers.

    Well attested1 source2025us-work-4

  • In Staff Engineer (2021), Will Larson sorts Staff+ individual-contributor roles, which do not require becoming a manager, into four archetypes: Tech Lead, Architect, Solver, and Right Hand.

    Attested1 source2021us-work-5

The Nordics4 claims

Open source & community

United States2 claims

  • According to Octoverse 2025, the number of US developers on GitHub grew from 10.2 million in 2020 to 28 million in 2025, the most of any country. The US ranks second to India in open source contributors and first in total contributions.

    Well attested1 source2025us-oss-1

  • The same Octoverse 2025 report says the US, UK, and Canada more than doubled their developer counts from 2020 to 2025, while India and Brazil more than quadrupled. Its 2030 projection puts India ahead of the United States.

    Well attested1 source2025us-oss-2

The Nordics5 claims