Swedes invade Edinburgh

Almost 4 months without a post. That's unforgiveable. I guess it either means that I've had nothing to complain about or that there has been far to much to complain about to put down on paper. Given my track record, the truth is likely somewhere in between. It wouldn't be me if there wasn't something to moan about.

 

Our workplace "study trip" to Edinburgh went off pretty well. All things considered. I waited at least 2 hours before explaining to our newly employed regional manager exactly what was an acceptable way to talk to me and what was going to be completely unacceptable. I'm not sure that he fully appreciated the message at the time, but we ended up getting along rather well afterwards. As with most Swedes, if you put them firmly in their place at the very start, there is very rarely a problem from them in the future. The trick is to snap them out of the inevitable sulk that follows and drag them along with you back into the game again. Then everything will be fine. Leaving them alone and expecting that they will quickly get over being handed any form of professional criticism can end up being a long and costly process. Some cultures are simply better equipped for coping with different situations than what other cultures are.

 

The weekend trips that we have away as a work group have shown themselves to be of great value to us. I wish that my NZ employers would have been a bit more visionary in that respect.  A key difference between the 2 employment cultures, in my experience, is that NZ employers are only focused on what is important right now, whereas Swedish employers look much further ahead. Having 3 or 4 days away together is a great way to get to know your work colleagues without the pressures and demands of work deliveries. No rank or status. Work pressures change the way in which people portray themselves which, in turn, makes it difficult to get a clear picture of who person really is. Learning about a colleague's life, ambitions, dislikes, etc, helps a lot to interpret their needs in the workplace. And that helps us work together better as a team. We spent a couple of long evenings, aided by a few samplings of whisky, unloading a lot of personal stuff and clearing away a load of unwanted clutter. Maybe we are a little unique in that we all feel safe enough around each other to say what we think and feel. There were 10 of us who travelled together and it did feel as though we travelled as a single group. There were times when 2 or 3 would wander off together to do something different, but it never felt like there was a division in any way.

 

Probably the most valuable part of the trip, from a professional angle, was the day trip that we took to Glasgow to visit our office there. The Glasgow office is the central office for the company in Scotland and we were all rather keen to check it out. Coming from a small office in the north of Sweden, we could see that we would have a lot to learn from big city cousins. Recapping the following day, we all came to the same conclusion: that the Swedish offices treat their staff a lot better than the UK offices. Another branch within our same office travelled to London around the same time and came away with the same impression. We have it pretty good here in Sweden and I think that we all understand that now. Certainly complaints about cramped offices etc have almost disappeared since we came back. A valuable lesson in perspectives.

 

Of personal interest to me was how many Swedes, despite their wordly claims, are still physically uncomfortable outside of Sweden. Sweden is still rather isolated and insulated, but you often forget that when you are on the inside. I was most surprised by how uncomfortable the younger members of of team appeared to be. You would expected young males in their 20 and early 30s to be fairly much bulletproof. I think that if we could find a way for us all to travel away somewhere new together, and yet still be in Sweden, then they would be much happier. It wasn't as though the complained all the time, they more shyed away from anything that was new or unfamilar to them. One evening we sat down for what I thought was a fabulous dining experience at an Indian restaurant in Edinburgh. Great service and, most importantly, outstanding food. Not, it would seem, if you were an under 40 Swede. I thought it was rather comical that us older ones were quite excited to pass around and sample new dishes, while the younger guys flatly refused to try any of the dishes. I would have expected the result to be exactly the opposite. Funny old world.