Culture · Levels of culture · Component
Assumption map
The taken-for-granted beliefs underneath the culture, inferred from artefacts and stated beliefs, each with its evidence and what it does to strategy.
The deliverable
What it is
Basic assumptions are the bottom of Schein’s three levels: beliefs so well established that nobody holds them consciously. They cannot be collected by asking. They have to be inferred, usually from a contradiction between what people do and what they say.
The map is where a description of culture becomes useful to strategy. An assumption such as “problems belong to whoever found them” is neither good nor bad in itself; it becomes a strength or a constraint depending on what the strategy asks people to do next.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
Assumption statement
The assumption written as a plain sentence someone inside would recognise, even if they had never said it aloud.
3 attributes: Assumption · Confidence · Mapped on
LearnSupporting evidence
The artefacts, stated beliefs and observed episodes the assumption is inferred from, referenced by their own records.
2 attributes: Evidence · Independent instances
LearnStrategic consequence
What the assumption makes easy and what it makes hard, read against the strategy currently being pursued.
3 attributes: Effect · Affected goal · Priority
Learn
Write each assumption so that someone inside winces in recognition. If it reads as a compliment or an insult, it is a judgement.
The other components in levels of culture
Artefact inventory
What anyone could observe about how the organisation works — routines, language and status markers — recorded before anyone interprets it.
LearnEspoused beliefs record
The reasons people give for how things are done, in their own words — the level of culture that explains itself, sincerely and not always accurately.
Learn