IMPRESSION OF A BRIT Still waters run deep… If this proverb sums up the personality of any of the nations in the European Union, it certainly fits the Finns. Richard Hill T here are plenty of ex amples, nearly five-and-a-half million. One of them is Formula One champion Mika Hakkinen who, back in 1999, belied his reputation as a steely-faced Finnish robot. Pushing for the finishing line at the Monza Grand Prix, he spun his McLaren off the track, threw off his gloves, stormed past track marshals in search of privacy (important for Finns) and crouched down in the bushes and cried. That is the thing about the Finns. They have this reputation of suppressing their emotions, but when they do crack, they crack up in a big way. Moderation is a significant behavioural characteristic of the Finns. They apply it to almost everything except getting drunk and sitting in the sauna, probably simultaneously. They also have an innate fondness for cognac and dancing the tango – in which they almost rival the Argentines. The matter-of-fact mentality of the Finns extends to their concept of time. “In Finland, time is linear, like a road travelling from the past into the future,” says anthropologist Leena Viukari. “Finnish time is scheduled and compartmentalised, enabling people to concentrate on one thing at a time.” No multitasking nonsense… The Finns have even invented a word to describe their dominant characteristic of doggedness: sisu. As author and interculturalist John Alexander, an Australian living in Sweden, explains: “Sisu [pron. See-soo] means determination, never giving up, resilience, steadfastness… Imagine you are locked in a room. There is no way out, but you must get out. What do you do? You walk through the wall. That’s the Finns and that’s sisu.” No wonder the Finns beat the Soviets off in the 1939-1940 Winter War! Moderation is a significant behavioural characteristic of the Finns. They apply it to almost everything except getting drunk and sitting in the sauna, probably simultaneously. Communication doesn’t come that easily to the average Finn, which helps explain the Hakkinen reaction. It is perhaps because of this tendency to ‘bottle up’ that Finns can at times be unexpectedly emotional. As a Belgian sales executive explained to me: “I have had customers crying in front of me for sympathy, because of their worries about the future of their business.” This is confirmed by a British business journalist who says it is not uncommon to have a well lubricated professional lunchtime tête-à-tête terminate with soul-baring and tearful revelations of marital infidelity, deaths in the family and so on. Finnish companies tend to be more hierarchical, or ‘vertical’, than those of their neighbours, the Swedes. A team of Finnish sociologists have studied their compatriots’ distinctive behavioural patterns in the organisational world. In their dealings with colleagues in a typical hierarchy, they find that people tend to be unemotional and very matter-of-fact. “Finnish superiors traditionally consider persuasion as unethical,” they say. “Being friendly is almost synonymous with being silly!” Their on-theground observations have led them to the startling conclusion that “46% of what Finnish superiors say to their subordinates is negative, i.e. explicit demands, direct orders, and so on.” Despite their superficial tendency to truculence, or at least keeping their opinions to themselves, the Finns have a highly developed sense of humour. One of their jokes is about two old friends who meet up for a drink after a long-time-no-see. There is a protracted but comfortable silence until one of them says: “Well, how are you, Matti?" To which Matti replies: "Look, did we come here to talk or to drink?” ● BECI - Bruxelles métropole - janvier 2016 57
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