Working with the Swedes

Work to live or live to work? This is the philasophical question that separates (in my mind) the difference between working in the US and working here.

Here is an example. At around 11:30-11:45 here, people start getting up, putting their coats on and heading out the door to lunch. It happens every day just like clock-work. A new employee from Silicon Valley, CA was in the office last week and ask me, "does everyone here take lunch at 11:30?" He went on to comment about the culture in San Francisco...people quite often work right through lunch or eat at their desk.

Another difference is email traffic. Here it shuts down about 3:00 PM on Friday afternoon. When I was in Atlanta it was not at all unusal to have a slower, but steady stream of work emails coming in over the weekend. I have to say...I prefer the Swedish way :-)

At any rate it all comes back to what I mentioned above. Here (and this is a generalization), you work because you want to, but also as a means to an end. In the US and in many other cultures you find yourself living for your job. While it can't be quite frustrating to adjust to a new culture (like this one) I do have a certain admiration for the change of pace.

Oh, and by the way...Swedes are not considered lazy....Norwegians are.

--posted by Dwight