You guys are probably much better at this whole politics thing than we are and I envy the Scandinavian egalitarianism in several ways. It is not wrong to say w

You guys are probably much better at this whole politics thing than we are and I envy the Scandinavian egalitarianism in several ways. It is not wrong to say we are hierarchical, but a more nuanced way of saying it is that we will respect hierarchy formally but will short-circuit it informally as much as we can. "Managing your manager" is seen as a chore that we all have to do in order to get going. We respect hierarchies but it is very common to see managers as a hindrance rather than a thing we are grateful for. Of course every person and team is different, so you may be spot on with that case you are mentioning, but I think that calling this behavior hierarchical is missing the core dynamics there. We are used to conflicts or at least frictions in many interactions, internally or externally. There is a sense of group and supporting the group, even if you think the leader is stupid. In the situation you describe, the average behavior I expect from the French team would be for the french colleagues of the clueless manager to nod to their boss stupidity in public but to privately call him for it or try to remove him. There is a time for overthrowing kings and a time for fighting Prussians, if you know what I mean. Actionable advice: if you are ever in a situation where you feel you have to deal with a clueless French manager, try to discreetly get connections with the people below him, they are likely to be more than happy to short-circuit their bosses.