If you do what you have always done,
you will get what you have always gotten.
Only a gambler in despair stakes everything on a single throw.
When the winds of change blow, some build windmills and others build walls.
Do you recognize yourself to some extent in the above?
How do you deal with uncertainty? Is it more of an opportunity or a worry in your life?
Based on the quotes and the proverb, you can already see that this is a topic that is dealt with differently from culture to culture. My experiences in the UK and Germany were a striking example of the different ways of dealing with it.
At first glance, there are some areas where Germany and the UK have a lot in common:
- Both are Western European countries (I’ll leave aside the EU and Brexit to avoid too long a digression).
- In both countries, the national language has Germanic roots.
- According to Hofstede, both countries are characterized by relatively low power distance and individualism (more on this in the next article).
- Soccer is very popular in both cultures.
- The British royal family has German ancestors, even if they do not communicate this loudly.
But then you get on a train in Germany and London and realize that the similarities also have their limits.
Take the timetable on a German train, for example. Some may say that you won’t find this on every train in Germany, and that’s certainly true. I’m more concerned here with the fact that there is one at all. In all my seven years in the UK, I never once saw a timetable. On the contrary, I was happy when the train arrived, and ten-minute delays weren’t even displayed. As a student, I was once given a lift by a family for the last part of my journey to my host family because there was simply no train connection and no substitute was available or offered.
Recently, my husband and I were in the car and the news on the radio discussed how Deutsche Bahn measures its rates of late trains by delays that occur more than 5 minutes after the scheduled time. We were both very impressed and, with our experiences in the UK in mind, had to smile a little.
Another thing that made a lasting impression on us was the wealth of insurance policies we were advised to take out as soon as we arrived in Hamburg. In Bristol, I had household contents insurance and bicycle insurance, but this was more expensive than the bike, so it soon no longer paid off. When we arrived in Hamburg, friends and acquaintances recommended everything from life insurance to disability insurance, so our heads were spinning.
If we had followed all the recommendations, we would now have more insurance policies than I could count on my fingers, an unimaginable amount for most Brits.
You can perhaps already see from these examples that the following characteristics can be found in cultures where, according to Hofstede, uncertainty avoidance is high:
- Uncertainty is perceived as a threat and something to be fought against.
- Situations that are ambiguous are perceived as uncomfortable and are resolved whenever possible.
- Members of these cultures tend to worry about health, money and the future.
- Money tends to be invested in financially conservative investments.
- Personality tests on the BIG 5 tend to measure neuroticism.
In cultures that tend to be characterized by low uncertainty avoidance, for example:
- Uncertainty tends to be perceived as a natural part of life to be accepted or utilized.
- Uncertainty is often met with humor.
- More standardized forms of address (for example ‘you’).
- Achieved results are attributed to personal performance rather than circumstances or luck.
- Personality tests on the BIG 5 increasingly measure agreeableness.
Dealing with uncertainty is also reflected in dealing with illness.
Not only are there more doctors in cultures with high uncertainty avoidance and more nurses in cultures with low uncertainty avoidance, but the way illnesses are dealt with is also very different. Low blood pressure, for example, is increasingly seen as something positive in the UK and the USA, whereas in Austria and Germany it tends to be seen as something that needs to be treated with medication.
In the world of work and career development, low uncertainty avoidance is reflected in shorter periods of time spent in one position and more frequent changes of employer. Many jobs rely on generalists rather than specialists, and common sense is preferred over technical solutions. You could say that a high level of uncertainty avoidance promotes good, high-quality implementation of projects, while a low level of uncertainty avoidance tends to promote inventiveness. The success of the BMW takeover of the Mini would support this comparison, although there are certainly examples to the contrary.
As always, “Before you take this medicine, speak…..”. These frameworks are intended as references and will not accurately predict every situation.
That’s why I find it all the more interesting to see where you stand on a topic yourself:
- What does uncertainty mean to me?
- How do my business partners see it?
- How can this knowledge help me in my life and perhaps make the next misunderstood cultural communication easier?
With this knowledge, it is easier to engage with other approaches.
With this in mind: Happy intercultural communicating and see you in the next article!
Under the links you will find the previous articles on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, power distance and cultural misunderstandings.
As a business coach and trainer, I can help you and your team to strengthen you intercultural cooperation and to effectively make the most out of your cultural diversity. Get in touch with me!
See you soon,
Cary Langer-Donohoe
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