Module Catalog →
Module Catalog →
Artifacts, espoused values, and underlying assumptions.
Edgar H. Schein (1928–2023) taught at MIT Sloan for five decades, founding the fields of organizational culture, career dynamics ('career anchors'), and process consultation. His three-level culture model — artifacts, espoused values, underlying assumptions — remains the standard, and his late work on humble inquiry anticipated the psychological-safety era.
Schein defined culture as layered — artifacts, espoused values, and basic underlying assumptions — and argued that creating and managing culture is the essence of what leaders do. His later 'Humble Inquiry' (2013) presaged the psychological-safety era.
The era: Dynamic Interaction — A dynamic, interactive influence process among individuals in groups; emphasis on managing environmental cross points.
Artifacts, espoused values, and underlying assumptions.
Where this work feeds the Open Sky frameworks.
Fellow travelers on these threads:
Read culture in layers: artifacts, espoused values, underlying assumptions.
Ask humbly before you tell — especially across status gradients.