While visiting Germany, I’ve come to understand that my home country may not have a healthy perspective on professional success. Like most things, success boils down to material conditions, and in Germany—thankfully—these conditions are generally more stable. Examples of material conditions can be simplified to social programs, access to democracy, and reliable education. In Germany, many of these programs are standard for citizens. My mom likes to call the U.S. an a la carte society, which I think heavily applies here. Eighty percent of people in the U.S. get their healthcare from their jobs, which significantly limits social and geographic mobility for citizens. Whereas in Germany, people are required to have government sponsored healthcare if they make less than seventy-thousand Euros a year. I feel that these cases of government support are intuitively helpful in fostering a more healthy idea of personal success.
Back home, we have a very different idea of success. It feels like finance and Wall Street jobs often consume most of one’s youth. Many in the field see these jobs as a kind of deal with the devil—sacrificing time and well-being for money or success later on. To get that rooftop garden apartment, one must be willing to stay at work until midnight and wake up at 6:00 a.m. the next morning. In Germany, as many of my peers have noted, once people leave work, they’re done for the day—they can’t be contacted.
While my job, like most in the industry, involved some inefficiency, my work focused on streamlining democracy. My entire vision for a productive project revolved around improving the notably inefficient processes of common NGOs. During my time working at KIEZconnect, I noticed that successful and effective employees often emphasized the positive aspects of work rather than dwelling on negatives or factors beyond their immediate control. Regarding scheduling, it was often difficult to get a clear timeline of when people were free during the week. I frequently had to ask when people were available rather than when they were busy to clarify what I needed.
In my industry, much of the work is abstract, so we are largely our own bosses. In more corporate environments, the bottom line is the ultimate authority for most workers. However, the nonprofit sector uses intangible metrics like community engagement to measure success. Accordingly, individual employees’ success is equally abstract. While that may sound vague, I found punctuality in Germany to be uniquely different. Instead of always being on time, many successful and efficient people I met were consistently late—meaning if someone was 15 minutes late, they were reliably 15 minutes late every time, which applied to all levels of punctuality.
The behaviors and actions of successful employees generally carried a tone of positivity, whether through shared meals outside work or boosting morale with charisma. These behaviors usually benefited the whole team rather than just the individual. In contrast, in the U.S., most successful workers seem to prioritize their own advancement—or at least that’s my understanding. We live in a highly individualistic culture that rewards those who position themselves above others. I’m not here to judge the ethics of this, but I must acknowledge how common it is in our professional spaces. Though I lack personal experience in corporate environments, my mother and other contacts confirm this sentiment.
Overall, while German culture may appear less efficient on the surface, it prioritizes the aspects of work that actually get things done rather than just creating the appearance of productivity. This principle underlies why I find German culture so accessible. I love the comfort of honesty in the workplace, and it frustrates me to see bosses avoid straightforward communication about simple deliverables.
As for my internship, my last week was phenomenal. This post is late because my final two weeks were swamped with preparations for a keynote speech summarizing our work over the past two months. Spoiler: it was a smashing success presenting our findings to the community. It is shocking how influential data can be for communities; which is especially prevalent in communities with higher standards of quality of life.
Regarding my life outside work, I gained a guest on my trip abroad. A childhood friend of mine from the UK visited, and I was incredibly lucky to spend time with him while in Europe. I got to check out Kit-Kat-Club and DSTRKT with him, which left me exhausted for the next Monday. Next week, I’ll be exploring Milan with Isaac (the friend) and experiencing Italy’s social scene. That’s all for now—thanks for reading!
-Alistair N