Why are Israelis so hard to work with?

http://www.quora.com/Israeli-Culture/Why-are-Israeli-people-so-hard-to-work-with/answer/Ohad-Samet

by maayank • 14 years ago

3 3 14 years ago

maayank• 14 years ago

While I don't think "as an Israeli I don't find this offensive" is enough of a justification to post (even though it's true), I find the answer very interesting in the context of the discussion "why Israel has many startups and entrepreneurs per capita?", which I think may interest the general audience of HN.

ramabk• 14 years ago

Great explanations!

debacle• 14 years ago

The core answer seems to be very similar to a great many ethnicities:

* Don't respect authority.

* Socially aggressive.

* Cynical.

* Entitled.

That reminds me of almost every eastern European hacker I know, most Indians, the Germans, the South Americans, the Australians.

So we have one of several possibilities:

* People in entrepreneurship tend to be all of the above, regardless of ethnicity.

* People in technology entrepreneurship tend to be all of the above, regardless of ethnicity.

* People from other countries that work for US companies or emigrate to the US tend to have these personalities.

The English Way, which most Americans and Canadians also follow to a fault, is a bit different:

* Respect authority, but also subvert it when you can get away with it.

* Very socially passive-aggressive.

* More sarcastic than cynical. Cynicism is looked down upon. Sarcasm is an art.

* Internalize conflict. Possibly the opposite of entitlement - poor self worth.

Why are Israelis so hard to work with?

Related Stories