Normal is crazy enough: four things you need to know about doing business with the Dutch

On April 30 or ‘Queen’s
day’, Queen Beatrix abdicated in favour of her son Willem-Alexander.
And although the entire nation went slightly crazy – painting itself and
everything within sight in the brightest orange available, the Dutch motto when
doing business is: “Act normal – that’s crazy enough”.

Even if it is not
said out loud, it is always top of mind for the Dutch. Appreciate its
importance and doing business with the Dutch will be much easier. Here are a
few other things you should know about doing business in The Netherlands:

‘Linear-active’
is the way to go

In 2002 our new
King Willem-Alexander married his Argentinian wife, Princess Màxima, who stems from
a Catholic family.

At first glance there
may seem nothing too extraordinary about this match. However, only 50 years ago
in 1964 Princess Irene, sister of our now Princess Beatrix, caused quite a stir
when she secretly turned Catholic and later that year married a Catholic: Carlos
Hugo de Bourbon Parma (a disputed heir to the Spanish throne).

Part of the
Protestant population of The Netherlands was not amused, to say the least,
about Princess Irene’s conversion. This was one of the reasons (the political
sensitivity of the groom’s position another) why her mother Queen Juliana could
not attend the wedding in Rome. Nor could her father and sisters for that matter.
The wedding also had to take place outside The Netherlands because of the
sensitive nature of this liaison.

Why was this
sensitive in The Netherlands at the time? To truly understand a big part of the
Dutch mindset it is important to realise that the Kingdom of The Netherlands has
its roots in the Reformation, and the liberation from the Spanish King Fillip
II who had many people in The Netherlands persecuted, tortured and killed for
the sole reason of turning Protestant.

The division
between Catholics and Protestants is one of the reasons why The Netherlands and
Belgium did not manage to stay united and became two independent nations in
1839.

Even though the
division over religion is no longer strongly felt in The Netherlands, it is not
that long ago that it would have been unthinkable for our at the time still Crown
Prince Willem-Alexander to marry a Catholic lady, which Princess Màxima remains
today. Their wedding service may have been a Protestant one, their three
daughters may have been baptized in a Protestant Church; Princess Màxima still
is of Catholic faith.

The Reformation,
initiated by Calvin and Luther, strongly influenced the mindset of the Dutch, including
the many Catholic people living mainly in the south of The Netherlands. It is
from Calvin’s ideas that the Dutch love for “Act normal that’s crazy enough”
stems.

How will this
affect your doing business in The Netherlands? Looking at the Lewis model with
its three cultural categories, we find The Netherlands in the linear-active
category, together with many other countries that show strong Protestant
influences.

They will
interrupt you. Often.
The Dutch habit to often interrupt their
interlocutors is a multi-active trait that takes them up a little in the Lewis model
towards the multi-active category.

“Two hundred years
free and united by equal rights and duties”

The Dutch feel
everyone should have equal rights (and duties!).

As a result Dutch
organisations tend to be flat, with leadership based on merit, competence and
achievements. For those stemming from more hierarchical cultures it is
sometimes difficult to see who is boss in a Dutch company as authority may be
disguised. In The Netherlands, equality also leads to managers consulting their
subordinates in long debates seeking seemingly mandatory consensus.

These so-called
‘Dutch debates’ understandably frustrate foreigners used to quick
decision-making processes with a strong leader in charge. The upside to these
long consultation rounds is that once consensus is achieved plans will be
implemented fairly quickly and with little resistance throughout the rank and
file. Behaving like a strong boss may cause other members of staff to think
“Act normal that’s crazy enough”.

“Act normal that’s
crazy enough” means a dislike for pretentiousness and grandiose. This dislike
for the grandiose may be difficult to get to terms with if you are French (who
tend to love grandiose) and you find yourself enduring a ‘working lunch’ with
rolls brought into the meeting room together with milk (very Dutch) and orange
juice so the meeting will not be interfered with too much.

Three hour
luncheons are exceptional in The Netherlands; it is considered a waste of time
and money. The latter also accounts for a lack of expensive company cars, which
are generally frowned upon because it is not seen as “acting normal”. This
attitude explains the Dutch image of frugality or even stinginess.

Another important
Dutch value is truth-telling. As Fons Trompenaars, Dutch himself, explains in
his books on cross-cultural communication Universalists reason: “What is good
and right can be defined and always applies”.

According to Trompenaars
this originates from Protestants relating to God through the Bible; The Lord’s
written word on earth. For Protestant believers there is no intermediate
between God and His people, therefore they need to rely on the Bible to
understand what is right and what is wrong. This still influences the generally
Universalist Dutch in being a law-abiding people.

Take the law
seriously, because the Dutch do

The law is
another form of written rules and regulations that need to be taken seriously.
The Dutch therefore highly value written contracts, although the system of
Dutch law does not require lengthy contracts, like Anglo-American companies
tend to draw up. The Dutch love for truth-telling, together with a desire to
avoid uncertainty, explains their direct style of communication. They say what
they think, what they believe is right or wrong, often unasked for and in clear
words, thus coming across as opinionated or rude.

After living in
the UK for several years I understand this attitude may cause offence to others
who value maintaining face. The understanding of face, a value mainly found in
the third category in the Lewis-model; the reactive cultures, is an important
value for the British as well. The positive thing about this directness is that
with the Dutch you will rarely have to guess where they stand. This is likely
to make the process of negotiating business deals easier.

The Dutch are also
not easily shocked or offended by your opinions as they separate the opinion
from its giver. Keep in mind another Dutch value is that we are all free to say
what we think. This freedom is more important than social niceties like being
polite as the Dutch’ ancestors truly had to fight for their freedom of
religion. Beating around the bush or over-carefully sharing your opinion also
may be seen as the opposite from “act normal that’s crazy enough”.

Don’t be
loud, fast or ill-informed

Approaching the
end of this article I will give you some tips on presenting your company or
services to a Dutch audience:

Arriving and starting on time tells them they can
trust you
They dislike loud and fast presentations
They need fact-based information
The speaker needs to be well-informed,
well-prepared and competent as your name and charisma are not enough to
convince them
Do not waste their time, as they have “other
things to see to”

Bearing these
points in mind, especially number 2 will help you avoid clashing with “act
normal that’s crazy enough”. Do not take such a clash lightly; “not acting
normal” will influence negatively your credibility in their eyes. If you do not
manage to gain credibility you may lose the business deal before you have even got
it.

With this article
I tried to shed some light on a couple of truly important Dutch values. The
values of equality and truth-telling you will no doubt encounter quickly when
dealing with the Dutch. Of course there is much more to say about the Dutch and
not every Dutch man or woman fits this generalized picture.

You may have seen some footage of the
celebrations of the investiture (indeed: investiture, not a coronation) of King
Willem-Alexander on April 30th. You will get a glimpse of the Dutch breaching
their “act normal that’s crazy enough” rule as they are dressed in orange,
wearing silly orange hats and facial decorations as they do on King’s day,
formerly Queen’s day, and when the national football team are playing.

The ceremony
itself on the other hand was executed in a sober manner and therefore adhered
to “act normal that’s crazy enough”. You may also have seen how close the Dutch
Royal Family actually are to their people, as they are approachable (read:
equal) when appearing in public.

By Marianne Mol

Marianne Mol is the founder of Munro Coaching & Training. She delivers leadership and team development tracks that improve effective co-operation throughout the organisation. Marianne lived and worked in the U.K. for a number of years, where she gained a wealth of cross cultural experience through coaching team leaders from various cultural backgrounds with NCR Ltd. a global American corporation. Marianne is a Licensed Partner with Richard Lewis Communications, a leading organisation in the field of cross cultural awareness, knowledge and skills. Find Marianne Mol on Twitter, LinkedIn and Whiteboardmag.