Culture · Reading it · Component
Subculture map
The units whose cultures differ from the whole, on which assumptions they differ, and the interfaces where those differences meet.
The deliverable
What it is
Martin’s three perspectives on culture — integration, differentiation and fragmentation — are a reminder that a single profile averages away real differences. Sales, engineering, operations and a recently acquired team may each hold coherent and quite different assumptions, and all of them are the organisation’s culture.
The map treats those differences as data. Some are functional and worth protecting; others produce friction at every handover. Knowing which is which comes before reading or shaping the culture as a whole.
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.
Divergent unit
A team, function, site or acquired business whose working assumptions differ recognisably from the wider organisation.
3 attributes: Unit · Origin · People
LearnDivergent assumption
The specific assumption on which the unit differs, stated in the same plain form as entries in the assumption map.
3 attributes: Local assumption · Differs from · Functional
LearnInterface friction
Where two subcultures meet in a handover or shared decision, and what happens there when their assumptions collide.
3 attributes: Between units · Collision · Status
Learn
Not every difference inside an organisation is a problem to solve. Some are the reason a unit can do its job.
The other components in reading it
Observation log
Dated episodes from ordinary work, each recorded as it happened and tagged with the pattern it suggests and who saw it.
LearnReward trace
Who was promoted, praised or protected, and for what — the behaviour the organisation actually pays for, read from its own decisions.
LearnCompeting values profile
Current and preferred profiles across the four culture types of the Competing Values Framework, used as a comparison lens with its limits in view.
Learn