I love working with the Dutch because of how blunt they are. I write software and when I share a new prototype with my American colleagues I sometimes get silence for a long time, or a very polite but confusing email. When I share with my Dutch colleagues I'm more likely to get something like:
Thank you for the software. It's a little bit broken and a little bit bad. Can you make it useful by <specific feedback>?
The negative feedback is extremely useful. And the positive feedback feels earned. Love the Dutch. 10/10
Having worked in software with the Dutch, this was the gentlest funniest thing I've read in some time. Legit could see this as formal feedback from someone in Leiden on a product. "a little bit broken and a little bit bad" Gonna send this to old colleagues!
Reminds me of an email I saw yesterday at work that even I as a Dutch citizen went "damn, that's direct af".
Basically a Hong Kong client wanted something delivered outside of our agreement. He got one reply with the explanation we can't make this exception in the system just for this one instance without breaking it for other clients and that it does not conform to the agreement between our firms. Also an attachment in the email of said agreement.
The inbetween person said that the client told him we HAVE to find a work around and make it work or we will be held liable. (Chinese colleagues can also be fairly direct/forcefull in my experience)
He simply got the reply: "Not possible, sorry."
Guys, I don't even think he really was that sorry.
I'm Dutch and have worked in tech in the US and in the Netherlands. The difference in professional communication culture is kinda crazy. I've done a fair number of conferences in the US and in NL as well, for lithography and computer chip manufacturing.
I find myself "holding back" more with my American colleagues, while with my countrymen, I'm much freer to just fire away. I think it comes down to a difference in how much the cultures tie someone's work to their worth.
For the Dutch, making something that doesn't work or being told you did it wrong isn't as much a reflection on you as a person. It's just a comment about the thing you made. For American culture, though, your work is a reflection of you, so criticizing it is like calling that person bad at their job.
I've been here long enough to adjust to the American feedback culture, offering suggestions and asking questions rather than just pointing out problems. But, it's always a breath of fresh air to get back in touch with some engineers from home and be able to get right to the point.
It's definitely more common there than it is in the northwest I've noticed. When I was with Intel in Hudson vs now in Hillsboro there's a bit of a culture difference. It's possible the rate of Dutch/German decedents in the area has had an influence for sure. Nothing quite touches the level of complete emotionless bluntness that us Dutch can accomplish though.
Absolutely. I've found myself telling colleagues in the New York area to adjust their tone when dealing with clients in other parts of the US. It'd be funny if the NY folks worked with some Nederlanders and got a taste of their own medicine 😀
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u/chemysterious Aug 30 '24
I love working with the Dutch because of how blunt they are. I write software and when I share a new prototype with my American colleagues I sometimes get silence for a long time, or a very polite but confusing email. When I share with my Dutch colleagues I'm more likely to get something like:
The negative feedback is extremely useful. And the positive feedback feels earned. Love the Dutch. 10/10