Culture · Levels of culture · Component
Espoused 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.
The deliverable
What it is
Espoused beliefs are what people offer when asked why things are done a certain way. They are sincere, and they frequently describe what people believe ought to be true. That does not make them useless; it makes them one level of three.
The official value list is not this record. Stated commitments are held in core values under Purpose, and this record only refers to them. What it collects is the informal justifications — “we don’t involve legal in that”, “the client comes first here” — that circulate alongside the official set and sometimes against it.
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.
Stated justification
A reason given for a practice, recorded in the speaker’s own words together with the practice it was offered for.
3 attributes: Belief as stated · Explains practice · Said by
LearnOfficial value link
Which stated core value, if any, an informal belief claims to express — referenced by its address and never restated here.
2 attributes: Core value · Relation
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If five people give five reasons for the same practice, it is being held in place by something none of them named.
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.
LearnAssumption 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.
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