To be honest, the way of thinking and explaining stuff is different.
Let's say you have a business discussion, with a problem and 2 possible solutions A and B. An English team leader, a French team leader and a German team leader gather and tell their boss what they think should be done.
- The English will
Start by telling you who has been working on the project
Tell the boss "we should do A" and will list 6 or 7 arguments of different strengths, in no particular order, with 0 - 3 examples by argument
Solution B will not be mentioned
The team leader will conclude by restating that we should do A and mentionning the few drawbacks of doing A.
- The French will
Start with a fairly long intro of the history of the problem and why it was not detected earlier (="not my fault")
Then he will say "Those are the arguments for doing B [=the worst solution]", with a list with 2- 3 items supporting solution B and one example each, never more items or examples. The items are ranked in decreasing importance.
Then he will say "but we should not do B" with a list with 2- 3 items against solution B and one example each.
Then he will say "So, we should do A", with a list of 2 - 3 strong arguments, with one example each (even if it means "grouping" in logical groups the same 8 - 9 items from the British). The items are ranking in increasing importance.
The French will conclude with "well we need to be doing A", the minor drawbacks of doing A, and a final, totally out of box advantage of doing A ("not only will it solve our problem, but it will allow the marketing department to communicate on this new solution")
- The German will
Start with a fairly short intro on the exact scope/impact of the problem and apologize
Then he will say "Here are the arguments for doing A" and list them all in agonizing details
Then he will say "Here are the arguments against doing A" and list them all in agonizing details
Then he will say "Here are the arguments for doing B" and list them all in agonizing details
Then he will say "Here are the arguments against doing B" and list them all in agonizing details
Then he will conclude : "overall, we are X percent sure I believe we should do [whatever]",
What is important to note that the solution prefered has no relationship with the order in which there were explained and that there is some sort of "weighting" between the 2 options, which neither the French nor the English would do.
Dissenting opinion within the team, if any, would be mentioned during conclusion by the team leader. This is anathemous to the English (the team is the team) and to the French (the team leader makes the final call !)
In the case of the English or the Germans, the boss will most usually follow the recommendation. The French boss is 50% likely to use the opportunity to challenge heavily whatever the team leader said, and 25% to take an opposite decision just to show the team leader who is the boss.
All team leaders will then abide by the boss decision, unlike say Eastern Europeans or French Canadians.
Source : Professional experience.
