🍣 Rob Estreitinho on LinkedIn: We obsess far too much with the top stuff. Not nearly enough with the… | 22 comments

"Organizational Culture and Leadership" by Ed Schein: “Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of culture as a concept is that it points us to phenomena that are below the surface, that are powerful in their impact but invisible and to a considerable degree unconscious. In that sense, culture is to a group what personality or character is to an in

shallowest level of culture is at the surface. The surface level is what you see when you walk into an organization, go on their website, or even when you interact with their leaders. Like in the ocean, it’s the level that’s the most frequented—the one we can see and access, and subsequently know the most about.

The deepest area of culture and the hardest to access is the below the surface level. This corresponds to the deepest levels of the ocean. It’s uncomfortable, scary, difficult to predict, tricky to navigate—and it’s very unfamiliar.

Like many organizations, perhaps we want to stick to the shallowest levels in order to reap the superficial benefits. Perhaps we are afraid of the ominous environment we may encounter at the deepest levels. But the deeper in the organization you get, the more you can truly understand, connect to, discern, and shape it.