“The greatest heroes are often accidental heroes – retiring, reluctant, thrust into the limelight by chance”. That is how an article in the Guardian starts about Paul the Octopus and his famous predictive powers during the European Cup in 2008 and World Cup matches in 2010. Well at the Expertise in Labour Mobility office we have our own hero: Nora the Rabbit.

After she proved right with picking the Netherlands as a winner of the match Spain-the Netherlands (we did not publish that result simply because we doubted it upfront), we have asked Nora again for the match of today: Australia vs the Netherlands. And who according to Nora will win? This time Nora is convinced Australia is going to win – she surged towards the carrot with the Australian flag (well Nora, you better enjoy those carrots because you will not be getting any for a while!).

If we look at cultural differences (our daily job) what are our predictions?
When it comes to communication, both the Australians and the Dutch are pretty direct – there is no doubt when a message needs to be delivered about its actual meaning: when criticism must be delivered it will be delivered. But whereas the Dutch believe honesty is a key feature that needs no fringes, Aussies add witty slang words and pleasant humour.

In both nations, conflict is also dealt with in a rather pragmatic manner. Aussies want to recognize the issue at stake, deal with the problem, and look for an objective solution based on mutual benefits. The Dutch also prefer to tackle a conflict head on, and have no problem in pinpointing exactly what, according to them, is the issue. But again, the Australians remain friendly throughout, whereas friendliness is not the most essential ingredient in conflict resolution for the Dutch. They believe a realistic, honest and straightforward approach brings the best results.

The biggest difference between both nations is related to the use of space. Whereas the Netherlands is the most densely populated country, Australia is a vast, largely empty country. Dutch people have learned to be pragmatically tolerant because they are constantly surrounded by others. Australians on the other hand can easily escape the company of others; as nature is never far away, it allows them their occasional privacy. Will this difference work in favour of the Dutch? 90 minutes of crowdedness is a non-concern for the Dutch … maybe after all our “office rabbit” is mistaken? I do hope for Nora she accidentally picked the wrong carrot and the Dutch do win. If they win, Nora gets a carrot because “mistakes are human”. If on the other hand the Dutch lose … Nora will have to wait for the next carrot until we play against the Chileans.

Nannette Ripmeester

PS No worries we will feed Nora anyway, that carrot is just a little extra 🙂

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