During my opening at Social Connections in Amsterdam on November 30th a few weeks back I tried to make a link between how the Dutch culture of ‘Consensus decision making’ that was formed by hundreds of years of fighting together against the rising water levels and social business relate to each other.

Water to The Netherlands traditionally is both a blessing (as it gives us opportunities for trade and access to the rest of the world) as well as a curse (as it is a constant threat with 1/3 of the country being below sea level). It forces us to constantly reinvent ourselves and our environment and forces us to work together on all levels. It has shaped the way we do business, do politics and live together and resulted in a flat hierarchy system focused on collaborating for a common goal with strong ties outwards. Which is underwritten by this report by DHL on the global state of connectedness where The Netherlands is ranked first out of 140 nations.

So does that make The Netherlands better at ‘social’?
I think it certainly helps as social business thrives in flat hierarchy systems and collaborative environments… but what do you think? Does national/regional culture help or not and if so, what aspects of your culture do you see that play a role in how Social Business is taking off (or not!)?