Posted by Christiane Bunnenberg, Senior Strategic Planner at Draftfcb Hamburg
I am writing this with my German hat on, so please apologize for being biased: One thing I observed over the last weeks is the different approach to challenges that I found while being here in USA. What strikes me is the pragmatic, energetic and active way to solve assignments. It feels pretty much like “roll up the sleeves and go.” Personally, I like that a lot since it keeps you lively and alert. The downside to this: Once you realize something needs to be fixed, you can only do so while keep going. This may be one reason for us Germans to start from a different angle: We think a lot before we actually start doing: We discuss, question things, question things again, rephrase, share, ask for approval and than – after a time that feels intense and brain heating – we are ready to bring some action to the project. Sometimes that will safe you trouble later on. But sometimes this takes way to much energy out of the project and while so much talking, discussion and thinking you feel a bit exhausted and sometimes less excited.
I find that interesting for two reasons:
1. Like often in life, the truth lies probably somewhere in between. So let’s (sorry for that) stop for a minute and rethink our style of working and maybe adopt a bit.
2. In a world that is so strong globally connected, fierce competition will force us not only to be faster but also be able to take in different global thinking to spark better ideas. I wonder what Asia can teach us on that!
OK, time to finish.
As always, I am wondering about your perspective. Please get active and give me bits of your thinking… I am curious to hear.
Oh, and next time, I will wear another hat. Promised!