The Finnish Side of My Life
- Deron Fuller
- Feb 3
- 4 min read
My journey from "I live in Finland" to "I'm a Finnish citizen" has taken a little more time than average maybe. But looking at my Culture Compass compared to the Finnish profile, I can see some of the reasons it took a while as well as a couple of reasons that show why I have succeeded.
💪💪💪 PDI
Certainly the fact that I share a similar profile on Power Distance has been helpful. As a consultant, I do like being comfortable working with anyone on any level of the company. Not only does it maximize my opportunities, but it makes my life more interesting.
🤔🤔🤔 UAV
However, our difference in Uncertainty Avoidance has been a friction point. Even the process of applying for my citizenship was an example. With my many years of living in Finland, I felt certain that I had done "enough" to prove my worthiness. But it's clear that the authorities have tried and trusted processes that help them to be certain "enough" that I was a fit. We clearly have different interpretations of "enough"!
To be sure, I don't think I'm ready to say "I'm a Finn". But if I can nudge my Long-Term Orientation towards Finland on the scale, I might be able to look a bit further down the road and I do believe I'll get there!
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I've enjoyed studying my Finnishness through the lens of the Culture Factor Group's tools. I hope you not only enjoyed reading about my profile, but would also like further insights into your own situations. Drop me a line or give me a call.
+358 40 832 5008
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Here are the complete and unabridged LinkedIn posts in the series, covering all 6 dimensions:
As an exercise in my recently liberated inner Finn, this is a poignant time for me to review my Culture Factor Group Culture Compass. Of Professor Hofstede's 6 dimensions, it looks like I should feel comfortable with Power Distance (PDI) and Motivation to Achievement and Success (MAS).
My PDI score says that I'm comfortable in a society that doesn't give anyone extra points simply because of their title. Also, I don't feel the need to wear a tie every day to show how important I am.
My MAS score shows that I am just as consensus-oriented as the next Finn. We certainly want to get results, but we are happy to wait a bit longer for those results. Especially if we benefit by comfortable work relations in the journey to those results.
Next week, I'll take a look at what Finnish Deron needs to do to match better in the other dimensions.
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Last week, I wrote about how "right" I am for Finland; I have about the same attitude towards hierarchy and I value relationships and give them time to develop into results.
Today, I'll write about a couple of dimensions where I need to do some work and hope that others will have some patience as I evolve - Individualism and Indulgence.
I am 30 points lower than the average Finn on Individualism. This means that I am likely to look for partners and support more than is common in Finland. One of the most striking examples I see is that we often talk about "teamwork", but what happens in practice is we meet and discuss roles in the team, then we go back behind our computer and do our assigned tasks before meeting again next week to report.
More comfortable for me would if we all sat in the same office and discussed the project with fewer set assignments for each of us. What I need to do to come closer to the Finnish behavior is to really focus on the tasks that I'm good at and meld that into our teamwork.
I am 27 points higher than Finns on Indulgence. I'm quicker to say "Yes" as my first impression (later in the week you'll see my Uncertainty Avoidance dimension and all will be clear!). My task with this is to hold my tongue longer and analyse an idea more completely. Then - and only then - I can jump in with both feet.
Later this week, I'll go to the 2 dimensions where I have a lot of work to do - Uncertainty Avoidance and Long-Term Orientation.
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And my 2nd to last post on my cultural fit with my new passport looks at the two dimensions where I'm a long way from typical Finnish attitudes: Uncertainty Avoidance (49 point difference) and Long-Term Orientation (51 point difference).
The UAV is perhaps of all the dimensions the one I notice in my everyday life. One example: my Finnish language isn't great, but I am confident that I get enough of a message and have just enough vocabulary to reply and it will all turn out fine. The Finns around me would generally prefer that I speak English because then we can all have certainty that I understood and made my point clearly.
LTO is interesting; my MAS score would indicate that I am a near-perfect Finn when it comes to a comfort level with achieving results a bit further into the future. But there may be limits to how far into the future I'm able to look. Also, there may be things that aren't exactly achievements or results - maybe even negative things - that I should be aware of. I can definitely see how a Finn could be frustrated; I'll try to do better!
For more info on the Culture Compass and Hofstede's 6 Dimensions: www.theculturefactor.com has fascinating insights into how we can use culture as a competitive advantage.
+358 40 832 5008
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