John Kampfner - Why the Germans Do it Better (Review)
Sydicated from: https://mimrs-data.no/falling-leftwards/why-the-germans-do-it-better-review
Introduction
When I picked up this book I had no real intention of covering it here. It was more of an impulse read than anything else. However, as I started reading it, it soon became clear to me that this is actually something worth covering in a tech blog as well.
First a little introduction to the book. "Why the Germans Do it Better" is a political commentary on the history of Germany from the end of the Second World War, through the occupation period, reunification, the Merkel era, handling the migrant crisis, the rise of the populist movement in the world, climate crisis and more. It is written by the British journalist and political commentator John Kepfner, who has spent considerable time covering events in both Germany, the UK and other parts of Europe. The book is written in particular with a view to contrast and compare the German approach with the British one.
Readers Intent
I originally picked the book up on the basis of one of the first pieces of praise on the book sleeve: "... This should be compulsory reading for every politician, civil servant and commentator in Britain." by John Simpson, BBC World Affairs editor.
I felt particularly strongly about this statement, as I have previously been a Civil servant in Britain. It hit doubly home as someone with strong ties to Germany and having spent much of my youth in the German sphere of influence. As such a book exalting the virtues of the German political system intrigued me. And I will admit to the same thought that many of the German participants in this story expressed. The rather uniquely German sentiment of: "You cannot say that."
With that I was hooked, and decided to read it in order to find out, what made Kampfner, make such a surprising claim.
Discussion
So what does a political commentary do on a review list in a tech blog? Well, you see, While reading this book I found that many of the processes and events that Kampfner brings up resonated strongly with sentiments and events that I had encountered while participating in and observing Data modernisation efforts. I am by no means trying to equate the events of Nazi Germany, of the soviet GDR directly with the actions of modernisation efforts or any given company. However, Kampfner highlights masterfully the emotions and challenges that the German people had to face, in how to deal with the knowledge of their history. And one of the aspects that I have observed in several attempted modernisation efforts, is the challenge of dealing with the culture, events and decisions that have come before when attempting a data modernisation. That is not to say that they were right or wrong. but I have observed a sense of shame and guilt creep into people’s voices and eyes, when they have been speaking about the so-called "Legacy systems", a shame and guilt not unlike you can observe when Germans speak about their history.
The book became even more relevant when Kampfner started to talk about the reunification process. Something I hopefully don't need to explain, are the challenges that any modernisation process faces in bringing along a part of their workforce on the modernisation journey. how to level up, how to turn two systems, one of which is considered the "better" and make it into one. The similarities, and emotions that they evoke between data modernisation and the reunification of East and West Germany are only one of scale. Do I claim that the German reunification was perfect? Not at all, it had several flaws, but I join Kempfner in his observation “Could anyone else have done it better? probably not.”
I could go on drawing out the similarities and comparisons between the events in Germany/the book and Software development. And possibly I will write more on the topic as time goes along. I find the topic to be somewhat underdeveloped in the tech blogosphere. But rather than wasting your time, I recommend you pick up the book. While it is a fascinating read for its political commentary, if you want to read it as a tech book here are some tips.
When the book speaks about different countries or states within the German federation, imagine departments, of interest groups within an organisation. Think of the events as much smaller scale, happening within a single organisation, but look for the drivers and impact that they have. The rise of populism can be the rise of a charismatic manager, or employee. The refugee crisis is the generational shift, that currently occurs in many large old companies. When reading, focus on the human aspects rather than the events themselves. Look for the emotions and opinion differences, how they were handled, and what approach was taken.
In some sense, I find that the largess of the scale that the nation-state level events provide helps to illustrate the human aspect much more, than when looking at a single company. It acts much like a magnifying glass, showing us more details and nuances. It is precisely the nuanced approach that I found so valuable in this book.
Final thoughts
As I said in the opening statement. This is not a traditional tech book. but it is a book in which I found valuable wisdom to be used in my work within technology and data modernisation. Not when answering questions of how to write good code, or what tool to use for a particular task. But a much more important side of the job. How do I deal with the people side? taking an example of an undertaking of a massively larger scale that has succeeded to the degree it has gives me hope that it is doable on a smaller scale as well.
While I think this book contains valuable lessons. I can only hope, that the same lessons will come to you if you decide to read it as Kampfner points out himself. One of the issues with history is that we expect everyone to learn the same lessons. Which unfortunately has proven not to be the case.
Bibliographic information
Kampfner John (2020): Why the Germans Do it Better - Notes from a Grown-Up Country. Atlantic Books, London ISBN-13: 978-1786499752