Have you ever wondered why Romanians perform better when working abroad? Or maybe you’ve asked yourself why a person considered a performer in a Western country is far from this status in our own country?  

Reading the book “The Psychology of the Romanian People” by Prof. Daniel David, I’ve often discovered enlightening ideas or answers for better understanding our own managerial endeavours. At DigiQuery, we continue to learn from our extensive interactions with various companies that all those great management and leadership books we read, all those courses we take, somehow reach their limits when facing day to day the reality of operating a business in Romania.  

How many times did you find yourself in that situation where you’ve tried your best to apply all the good practices you read in the books (mostly written by US business leaders and management gurus) and you just realize that the results are far from your expectations?  

So, what’s the root cause? You’re following the best of the best and implementing their advice but you don’t get the same results. Why?  

I’ve asked myself this question many times and, while there may be more than one true answer to this question, I’ve discovered new perspectives in the book I’ve quoted at the beginning of this article. Psychology, culture, values are important factors that influence the results of any managerial process. Our behaviours, either individual or collective, have some underlying patterns. Unfortunately, many times these patterns sabotage us and limit our performance.  

Once you learn to identify these patterns, you may take the first step to correct them or at least to establish an effective communication channel with the person in front of you.  

How do we score, as a nation, in terms of collectivism, power distribution, appetite for uncertainty?  

How we avoid risk?  

What’s our predefined attitude versus setting short or long term objectives?  

And once we become aware of all these, how should we use it to our advantage?  

In a series of about 20 articles, I will try to capture the main conclusions of this excellent book written by Prof. Daniel David, and mirror them with specific behaviours observed in the Romanian business environment. I will share some easy to grasp tactics you could use to manage situations and people in order to drive performance in Romania, because, at DigiQuery, we believe in a continuously evolving Romanian business community, supporting value creation to the benefit of both companies and their people.