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YesterdayAug 21 at 10:31am

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Discussion Thread: Three Levels of Culture

This writer's initial thoughts regarding Schein's three levels of culture are that visually we tend to make assumptions through our cultural blinders. Our past experiences shape how we define or limit a culture in how they operate on a macro or micro level of the society in which they exist. Schein and Edgar(2017) state, "Artifacts include the visible products of the group, its artistic creations, its style, and emotional displays, its myths and stories, its published lists of values, and its observable rituals and ceremonies." (p. 17). Artifacts are not what can be seen but the practices and customs of the groups as well. Schein and Edgar(2017) continue to state, "Observed behavior routines and rituals are also artifacts, as are the organizational processes by which such behavior is made routine." (p. 17). 

The example in the text that is given is how pyramids can symbolize different things in different cultures, as the Egyptians and Mayans each had pyramids that were unique to their climate. This writer can see how easy it can be to judge a culture based on prior experiences and individual beliefs or predetermined values that restrict or limit a society of people before peeling back the layers to learn each culture from the micro level of understanding. 

Scripture calls for God's people to value culture and avoid prejudices and biases based on feeling a sense of superiority over one sect of society. The story of Jonah is an excellent example of how God's people are to value other cultures and not ostracize them. God told Jonah “Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it, because their wickedness has come up before Me.” (NASB). God instructed Jonah to go and evangelize to a different culture to get them to turn from their wickedness and worship God. Jonah felt the people of Nineveh were not worthy of God's mercy and the bible tells us, "He went down to Joppa, found a ship that was going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded it to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord." (NASB). 

One can learn a deeper appreciation of different cultures by not bringing prior experiences, biases, and values in developing an understanding of societies.  

 

References

Schein, Edgar H. (2017).  Organizational Culture and Leadership. 5th Edition. Wiley. 

New american standard bible (1995). (Text ed.). Foundation Publications.

Three Levels of Culture

Initial Thoughts on Schein’s Three Levels

From the outset, Schein and Schein’s (2016) way of understanding group culture resonates with this author’s experienced reality. They define culture as an accumulation of group learning and notes that the cultural DNA, “the beliefs, values, and desired behaviors that launched the group and made it successful,” (p. 7) is impossible to change without also fundamentally changing the group.

Agreement

With that underlying understanding of group culture, group artifacts are defined quantifiable elements of an organization (Schein & Schein, 2016). These are crucial to understanding on a fundamental level how a group’s culture works.  The authors then go on to describe a level of espoused values.  This author found their understanding of how individual beliefs transform into group norms and values via practical success accurate and helpful. The final level, underlying basic assumptions, are reminiscent of Wilder and Hendricks (2020) description of a group identity, “the people we call ‘my people’” (p. 22).  This acknowledges the reality that “people derive much of their sense of self from the groups to which they belong and are motivated for this self-concept to be positive and distinctive” (Molenberghs et al., 2015). These three levels to analyze organizational culture have promise for profitable consideration of group cultures.

Disagreement

This author largely found the reading to be accurate and helpful; however, there are two points that might require some further formation.  First, Schein and Schein (2016) note that artifacts are difficult to interpret; however, that is only true to a certain extent. Based on the interpreter’s background (i.e., two churches in the same church body), artifacts of an organization can be very telling of the underlying culture. Additionally, one other potential point of disagreement might be that in this author’s view, some consideration should be made for outside forces that limit or shift the expression of Shein and Shein’s three levels of cultural analysis.  A group’s culture on all three levels might demand expression one way, and outside regulation or expectation might repress that expression.

Experienced Examples

This author has experienced these three levels in each church he has been a part of.  Each congregation has artifacts in the form of constitutions, buildings, and configurations.  Each congregation has espoused values in the form of statements of belief, mission statements, and visions.  Each congregation also has one common set of underlying basic assumptions in the form of God’s Word, with additional assumptions added in alignment with the individual group.

References

Molenberghs, P., Prochilo, G., Steffens, N. K., Zacher, H., & Haslam, A. (2015). The neuroscience of inspirational leadership: The importance of collective-oriented language and shared group membership. Journal of Managment, 43(7), 2168-2194.

Schein, E., & Schein, P. (2016). Organizational culture and leadership. John Wiley & Sons.

Wilder, J., & Hendricks, M. (2020). The other half of church: Christian community, brain science, and overcoming spiritual stagnation. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.