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Since this is Swedish study, I just want to point out that Swedish organizational culture is very meeting and consensus oriented. Nordic cultures may seem very

Since this is Swedish study, I just want to point out that Swedish organizational culture is very meeting and consensus oriented. Nordic cultures may seem very similar, but their organizational cultures are different even within the same company. Others are often frustrated about Swedes and their endless meetings. Finns in the meeting are 'OK. lets do this.' and Swedes reply 'But Jan-Erik has not shared his point of view yet.'

altacc 7y ago
So true! I work across Scandinavia and there are definitely more consensus forming meetings in Sweden than elsewhere, even. Having previously worked in US & UK companies I'm still not used to it and I often feel like banging my head against the table and crying out "Will somebody please make a decision!". But of course this is Sweden, no single person will make a decision. I'm sure they think I'm terribly rude.
- patcon 7y ago
  Heh sounds like you've maybe run across something quantified in the Hofstede leadership studies, commissioned by IBM when they first wanted to become an international globocorp. What you're feeling is the difference between a collectivist leadership culture and an individualist leadership culture. Collectivist cultures value leaders who generate power through _maintaining relationships_, whereas individualist leaders prioritise leadership via _authority_. Think of it as accruing power in the edges vs the nodes of the social graph. Fun fact: countries whose leader cultures are more individualist (e.g. America) are MUCH more likely to have whole populations who agree highly with "economic growth is important above all else", whereas collectivist leader nations (e.g., Taiwan, Finland) have a general populace who agree less highly with that phrase, but MORE highly with "ecological sustainability and environmental stewardship are important". So while correlation doesn't prove causation, it may be the case that American-style individualist leadership culture is in opposition to our shared goals of non extinction :) but that's maybe a leap. The whole study is really rad. Oh, and more bonus: collectivist leadership style correlates highly with feminine leadership style (another axes of Hofstede study) EDIT: a-ha! Found the source: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40836056?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents https://www.jstor.org/stable/40836056?seq=1#page_scan_tab_co...
  - mekoka 7y ago
    Thanks for sharing. It's certainly food for thought. I was trying to picture this sort of leadership by consensus applied in different parts of the world where I've lived. Although it might work with some success in a few places, in most I could only foresee catastrophe. Then I was reminded that Sweden has a really good education system. Maybe there's another lesson to draw here, that in order for consensus (democracy?) to work, it's worth ensuring that the minds that will voice their perspective actually have the ability to work out the issues.
  - thewileyone 7y ago
    https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/ https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/ Here's the source data updated.
  - stevenhuang 7y ago
    Intruiging, thanks for the summary and link to sources. I'll have to give that a read.
mistermann 7y ago
I would love to hear similar anecdotes about how Japanese meetings tend to be.
- twoquestions 7y ago
  Ask and you shall receive, my favorite horror story: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/11/07/doing-business-in-japan/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/11/07/doing-business-in-japan...
  - spaceprison 7y ago
    This was such an interesting read thanks for posting it!
petra 7y ago
>> Swedish organizational culture is very meeting and consensus oriented. How does that work ? do people get a say regardless of their status ? do good ideas really rise up ? Or does it just become a different type of political game ?
spaceprison 7y ago
This explains so much! I was recently working on an infrastructure deployment with a team in Sweden and those of us from the US could not understand why everything took a commitee to do anything outside the norm. Like, no individual would just do a task or make a command decision unless a broader team was engaged. The work got done but, yeesh.

altacc 7y ago

So true! I work across Scandinavia and there are definitely more consensus forming meetings in Sweden than elsewhere, even. Having previously worked in US & UK companies I'm still not used to it and I often feel like banging my head against the table and crying out "Will somebody please make a decision!". But of course this is Sweden, no single person will make a decision. I'm sure they think I'm terribly rude.

patcon 7y ago
Heh sounds like you've maybe run across something quantified in the Hofstede leadership studies, commissioned by IBM when they first wanted to become an international globocorp. What you're feeling is the difference between a collectivist leadership culture and an individualist leadership culture. Collectivist cultures value leaders who generate power through _maintaining relationships_, whereas individualist leaders prioritise leadership via _authority_. Think of it as accruing power in the edges vs the nodes of the social graph. Fun fact: countries whose leader cultures are more individualist (e.g. America) are MUCH more likely to have whole populations who agree highly with "economic growth is important above all else", whereas collectivist leader nations (e.g., Taiwan, Finland) have a general populace who agree less highly with that phrase, but MORE highly with "ecological sustainability and environmental stewardship are important". So while correlation doesn't prove causation, it may be the case that American-style individualist leadership culture is in opposition to our shared goals of non extinction :) but that's maybe a leap. The whole study is really rad. Oh, and more bonus: collectivist leadership style correlates highly with feminine leadership style (another axes of Hofstede study) EDIT: a-ha! Found the source: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40836056?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents https://www.jstor.org/stable/40836056?seq=1#page_scan_tab_co...
- mekoka 7y ago
  Thanks for sharing. It's certainly food for thought. I was trying to picture this sort of leadership by consensus applied in different parts of the world where I've lived. Although it might work with some success in a few places, in most I could only foresee catastrophe. Then I was reminded that Sweden has a really good education system. Maybe there's another lesson to draw here, that in order for consensus (democracy?) to work, it's worth ensuring that the minds that will voice their perspective actually have the ability to work out the issues.
- thewileyone 7y ago
  https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/ https://www.hofstede-insights.com/product/compare-countries/ Here's the source data updated.
- stevenhuang 7y ago
  Intruiging, thanks for the summary and link to sources. I'll have to give that a read.

mistermann 7y ago

I would love to hear similar anecdotes about how Japanese meetings tend to be.

twoquestions 7y ago
Ask and you shall receive, my favorite horror story: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/11/07/doing-business-in-japan/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/11/07/doing-business-in-japan...
- spaceprison 7y ago
  This was such an interesting read thanks for posting it!

petra 7y ago

>> Swedish organizational culture is very meeting and consensus oriented. How does that work ? do people get a say regardless of their status ? do good ideas really rise up ? Or does it just become a different type of political game ?

spaceprison 7y ago

This explains so much! I was recently working on an infrastructure deployment with a team in Sweden and those of us from the US could not understand why everything took a commitee to do anything outside the norm. Like, no individual would just do a task or make a command decision unless a broader team was engaged. The work got done but, yeesh.