Gert Jan Hofstede: The cultural biology of organization

Are you in search of a speaker who can make sense of human behaviour in organized life?  One who is good at making things as simple as they can possibly be made, but no simpler? One who can make sense of the latest hypes but is not swept away by them?

You could try me. I like to create tailor-made presentations or training sessions. I can be serious or playful. I can also listen to and discuss with your people.

Some special topics are in the links, some general considerations are presented below.

Languages in which I can deliver talks and discuss: dansk, deutsch, english, français, nederlands.

Experience

Over the last years I have advised or trained various companies, a.o. Alcatel-Lucent, BP, Deutsche Telekom, GITP, Kroymans Corporation, Oranjewoud, Procter & Gamble, Rabobank, RijkZwaan, Swis Reinsurance, Vos Logistics. 

I have held invited lectures at many events for companies and universities in various countries: Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, Switzerland, USA.

I have discussed with expatriates, immigrants, managers, politicians, professionals, students, and even with scientists.

I can do those, but they will be tongue-in-cheek. 'Celebrating diversity' sounds great but real diversity is hard to cope with. Cross-cultural teams are a bit like marriage: getting married is great, but honeymoon can be a shock and coping with families-in-law can be hard...though the harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.

Diversity

Diversity is a fashionable topic. It is usually used in the sense of individual differences. Yes, everyone is different - but not only at the individual level. There are also differences at group level.

Identity

First, there can be differences in group identity. This is about the group labels that people attribute to themselves, e.g. religious, national, or gender-based identities. Group identity is what you think you are. All groups like to think that they are somehow more moral or smarter than others.

Culture

Then, there are differences in culture. Most people are not aware of these, but they play a role in all social situations. People are very much aware of their identity - but they do not know their culture. Culture is the unwritten rules of the social game of a group. We all act with an accent - that is our culture.

Working with foreigners

Are you having trouble with foreigners? Too bad, because wherever you are from, most other people are foreigners to you. In today's world you need to be able to work with them. I can help you understand how you differ from them and what you have in common. That will be good for business, for negotiations, even for conflicts. 

Topics that are especially troublesome across cultural boundaries are: leadership, incentives, rewards, and teamwork.

Why do collaborations and mergers fail? If you happen to think that it's nothing to do with culture then you are wrong - and unlikely to be proven so because you can always blame something else. If you think that culture is never the only cause then I agree.