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Flexibility. Is there anything else, really?

3 a.m. Nobody’s outside. But a german girl and me.
Look left, look right before crossing the street.
And there I go.
German girl shouts “Careful! It’s still green traffic light!” Not a single car anywhere.
Look left, look right. Nothing but cultural differences.

We often make fun of germans and their process binding capabalities.
Their machine tooling and car industry.
But figures speak for themselves…
French people 40 billion deficit on the commercial balance.
German people 120 billion excess on the commercial balance.

But why is that? I will have to use cliches, but german people must be more efficient. (and are also known for that).

My opinion is that abiding to policies and processes more than latins is what enables Germans to produce top quality products requiring difficult specs and craftmanship.

Latins are known to be hard to manage by process and would try to see those, more like constraints. So by having everyone trying to optimize its own field, you don’t reach a global optimum.

That’s how you reach the top level of quality… you put the best processes possible to reduce costs, decrease time-to-market, increase quality indicators.

But Hey!!!
We don’t live in a static world. Things are bond to change. Processes are short-lived. What used to be might not apply any more. If processes had to be rethought overall everytime one change was introduced, we would spend time making processes.
We would not get any work done.
If processes should be applied all the time, then you would get stuck behind while the others cross the road. Yes, they noticed there were no cars, while you were stuck at the red light.

This view implies my view only – be well aware that those are cliches and not meant to be discriminating against any nationality.

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2 Comments to "Flexibility. Is there anything else, really?"

  1. Franz's Gravatar Franz
    January 22, 2009 - 5:07 am | Permalink

    Have you ever seen japanese people at a cross road. And they don’t shout at you when you the road with the red light still on, but they look at you like you’re a freak ^^

  2. Vinh's Gravatar Vinh
    January 22, 2009 - 12:27 pm | Permalink

    I remember an American guy… He was pretty impressed we would cross the road at the wrong moment in front of policemen… (because there were no cars)

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