Bringing stone-age brains into the modern day

Anthropologist aims to illuminate the country’s workplace culture with self-help book

Have you ever found yourself wishing you had a manual to help understand your Danish colleagues? You’re not alone. According to studies, nearly a third of foreigners who relocate to the country find themselves surprised by cultural differences – and those surprises aren’t always positive.  

But according to anthropologist Dennis Nørmark, that culture clash runs far deeper than a strange affinity for herring or Danes’ inexplicable obsession with their country’s flag.

“It’s fair to say that it’s a part of our psychological make-up and must have developed through the human evolution that primarily took place in primitive hunter-gatherer groups. In the Stone Age, so to speak,” Nørmark said.

It’s an issue that Nørmaark has taken on in his latest book, Cultural Intelligence for Stone-Age Brains. Originally published in Danish in 2011 as a means for Danes to understand themselves in a global context, the book was re-released last month in English to advise the rest of the world about the cultural codes of Danish business and society.

Nørmark works as a consultant for Living Institute, a Copenhagen-based organisation that provides workshops in cross-cultural awareness, and is well-known in the international community for his ‘Why are the Danes so weird?’ seminars. He maintains that humans generally prefer to be around others who look and behave like themselves – and are thus prone to stereotyping foreigners in terms of ‘right and wrong’ instead of simply ‘different’.

“This [comes from] a time in which it was probably too risky to engage in collaboration with ‘strangers’, where the risk of misunderstanding was potentially life threatening.”

But while the Stone Age is long gone, Nørmark argues that the mindset from our more primitive origins isn’t so far behind us.

“Today it’s a whole different world. It’s global, it’s diverse and our cultural evolution has generally worked much faster than the biological,” he pointed out. “So we need to challenge our more prehistoric dispositions.”

'Cultural Intelligence for Stone-Age Brains' offers advice to foreigners on how to handle working with DanesIn his book, Nørmark presents descriptions of business and negotiation cultures in various countries, and offers advice on how to handle those nuances. He argues both that Danes need to improve at understanding themselves and others, and that foreigners need to learn how to work with them. In his own experience, the biggest challenges between natives and expats often come from differences in management styles.

“Danes prefer to involve many people in the decision-making process,” he pointed out.” Ideally anyone affected by a decision needs to be heard. It takes a long time and requires a lot of buy-in from everybody.”

“In many other cultures, the management would make a decision without seeking a consensus, but in Denmark the management does not give orders or follow up with detailed inspection – and doesn’t necessarily have the ‘correct’ or ‘final’ answer.”

Nørmark also noted that Danes put an “extreme” level of trust in society, and maintain a very sharp work-life balance that affects their willingness to mix business and private life. To a foreigner, he explained, this can make Danes seem cold and unreachable. But Nørmark thinks that there have been overall improvements in Danes’ attitudes to foreigners.

“When we talk to Danish companies and the Danes who work for them, I experience a broader general knowledge than six years ago when I started in the field,” he said. “So yes, I think it’s getting better, but compared to a lot of other countries, Danes have had little exposure to cultural diversity. There is still some way to go.”




  • Ryanair cancels all flights to and from Billund 

    Ryanair cancels all flights to and from Billund 

    Ryanair has increased its cuts from the Billund-Aalborg route to encompass its entire operation to and from Billund Airport. The airline’s scarce communication is leaving both the airport and passengers scrambling for answers.

  • What do Danes do for “Vinterferie”?

    What do Danes do for “Vinterferie”?

    As tradition has it, many Danes take a week off for Vinterferie next week. Or the week after. It’s a bit confusing, especially since Christmas and New Year’s Holiday are not far away. What’s going on?

  • The educational options for internationals in Denmark

    The educational options for internationals in Denmark

    Denmark offers free public education, but private schools and universities for non-EU students require tuition. Language is a barrier, with international schools available for children and limited English-taught university programs. In 2024, Denmark expanded university seats for internationals and introduced an HF-international program in Aarhus.

  • Aarhus Gymnasium is launching Denmark’s first HF program for internationals

    Aarhus Gymnasium is launching Denmark’s first HF program for internationals

    Aarhus Gymnasium is launching Denmark’s first HF-international program in August, offering young adult internationals an alternative to IB programs with a focus on career-oriented education and Danish language learning. Unlike IB, it reduces academic pressure while providing access to vocational schools and professional bachelor’s degrees

  • Top Danish companies report strong financial performance

    Top Danish companies report strong financial performance

    Some of Denmark’s leading companies reported solid financial results for 2024, with Lundbeck, Demant, and Vestas seeing growth, while Pandora tackled rising production costs with price increases and cost-saving measures.

  • Greenland restricts foreign property purchases and election donations

    Greenland restricts foreign property purchases and election donations

    These days, the Greenlandic institutions are approving two new norms to restrict, reduce, or ban the possibility for foreign citizens to buy real estate on the island, as well as for political parties to receive large amounts of money from foreign donors.