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Anecdotally, the British people I have interacted with in a business setting seem to have a dearth of ambition. These people weren’t depressed, but I sensed a k

Anecdotally, the British people I have interacted with in a business setting seem to have a dearth of ambition. These people weren’t depressed, but I sensed a kind of defeatist cynicism. As an American I realize our culture encourages taking risks and we are remarkably forgiving of failure. In fact, we seem to congratulate people for the fact that they tried in addition to overlooking the failure. I’m not sure if this comes from “the frontier spirit” or if this mindset used to exist throughout the Anglosphere. In any event, I do feel bad for the UK as a whole. It just seems like things keep getting worse and at some point the national mood becomes a self fulfilling cycle.

CalRobert 2y ago
American parents: "You can do anything you set your mind to! Anyone can be president! If you fail, pick yourself back up and try again! Your cousin with the big house started out washing cars and built an amazing success from nothing!" British (and Irish) parents: "The whole system is rigged so don't even try, the guy in the big house up the road got it through shady government contracts, my uncle can get you a job at the council so you'll never, ever get fired, the only reason to ever save money is for retirement or a house, your cousin who tried to start a company thinks he's better than us...."
DoingIsLearning 2y ago
It really starts at a young age. I remember playing (my) football (your soccer) in school and my neighbourhood as a kid. If you were going to strike you needed to be pretty sure that you can score or that you can take the heat from your team mates if you fail. In contrast watching kids play sports in the US, everyone is constantly trying to lift each other up after failure. These small cultural differences easily add up in how you carry yourself in business. Negativity seems to be culturally frowned upon in the US (what a downer). Positivity seems to be culturity frowned in Europe (naive 'happy go lucky' kind of guy).
- BuyMyBitcoins 2y ago
  Spot on. I’ve met several foreign exchange students during my time at university. A simple observation from one of them really stuck with me: “You Americans really like to help strangers.” The “happy go lucky” observation squares with what I have been told by my Eastern European friend. Any stranger, or mere acquaintance, who is friendly and offering help is likely trying to obligate you into repaying the favor later on. People who for fall for this are naïve or simpletons. There’s definitely a level of trust that needs to be earned before you experience the same kind of positivity and goodwill that Americans seem to dole out to “randos” they just met. Right after that “like to help” comment he followed it up with: “It is like you are all Golden Retrievers”. Which I found both hilarious and fitting.
  - scientism 2y ago
    A theory I've heard of why this happens is that Europeans are generally suspicious because there is a lot of international trauma considering Europe was the center of two World Wars, both relatively recently. The US on the other hand didn't have that imprinted in its collective memory.

CalRobert 2y ago

American parents: "You can do anything you set your mind to! Anyone can be president! If you fail, pick yourself back up and try again! Your cousin with the big house started out washing cars and built an amazing success from nothing!" British (and Irish) parents: "The whole system is rigged so don't even try, the guy in the big house up the road got it through shady government contracts, my uncle can get you a job at the council so you'll never, ever get fired, the only reason to ever save money is for retirement or a house, your cousin who tried to start a company thinks he's better than us...."

DoingIsLearning 2y ago

It really starts at a young age. I remember playing (my) football (your soccer) in school and my neighbourhood as a kid. If you were going to strike you needed to be pretty sure that you can score or that you can take the heat from your team mates if you fail. In contrast watching kids play sports in the US, everyone is constantly trying to lift each other up after failure. These small cultural differences easily add up in how you carry yourself in business. Negativity seems to be culturally frowned upon in the US (what a downer). Positivity seems to be culturity frowned in Europe (naive 'happy go lucky' kind of guy).

BuyMyBitcoins 2y ago
Spot on. I’ve met several foreign exchange students during my time at university. A simple observation from one of them really stuck with me: “You Americans really like to help strangers.” The “happy go lucky” observation squares with what I have been told by my Eastern European friend. Any stranger, or mere acquaintance, who is friendly and offering help is likely trying to obligate you into repaying the favor later on. People who for fall for this are naïve or simpletons. There’s definitely a level of trust that needs to be earned before you experience the same kind of positivity and goodwill that Americans seem to dole out to “randos” they just met. Right after that “like to help” comment he followed it up with: “It is like you are all Golden Retrievers”. Which I found both hilarious and fitting.
- scientism 2y ago
  A theory I've heard of why this happens is that Europeans are generally suspicious because there is a lot of international trauma considering Europe was the center of two World Wars, both relatively recently. The US on the other hand didn't have that imprinted in its collective memory.