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Reflections on Work and Culture

To truly collaborate means establishing mutual trust and respect.

4 employees working together to complete a puzzle

A work culture can often be thought of as the shared terminology and incentives that drive teams to work toward a shared goal. This is part of culture, yes, but perhaps not the most important part. To truly collaborate means establishing mutual trust and respect.

Edgar Schein defines organizational culture as a pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solves problems of external adaptation and internal integration. These assumptions operate as an often-unconscious force, shaping perception and behavior. Schein’s three-level model, commonly described as the cultural iceberg, includes artifacts, espoused values, and underlying assumptions.

Artifacts are visible elements such as language, rituals, and workspace design. Values feed strategies and ideals, such as innovation or teamwork. They are defined by Schein as “underlying assumptions,” the taken-for-granted beliefs about authority, risk, time, and human nature that truly drive behavior. Changing efforts that focus only on artifacts or slogans often fail because they do not address these deeper assumptions.

Complementing this perspective, Kim Cameron and Robert E. Quinn emphasize the relationship between culture and organizational structure through the Competing Values Framework. They discuss the differences between collaborative, creative, competitive, and controlled structures.

Each culture type aligns with structural preferences. For example, Hierarchy cultures rely on formal rules, stability, and clear lines of authority, whereas Adhocracy cultures favor flexibility, decentralized decision-making, and innovation. Cameron and Quinn argue that structure both reflects and reinforces cultural assumptions; a rigid reporting structure, for instance, may embed assumptions about control and predictability. At the inaugural Converge Conference held by Fisher College of Business, alumnus Chris Phillips (BSBA ’97) said that a leader can create spaces where people feel respected and willing to share ideas by asking the right questions and encouraging innovation, while balancing such encouragement with a strong foundation and guardrails. He went on to explain that this means outlining clear expectations and providing stability, while working together to better understand the problem that needs solved.

Integrating these theories highlights that culture and structure are mutually reinforcing systems. Structural redesign without attention to underlying assumptions may produce superficial compliance but not genuine transformation.

Likewise, shifts in values must be supported by aligned systems, incentives, and authority patterns. Effective organizational change therefore requires diagnosing both the visible architecture of structure and the invisible architecture of assumptions. Sustainable change occurs when leaders align structure, strategy, and deep cultural beliefs to support new ways of working.