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Edgar Schein’s Organizational Culture and Leadership, as seen through the lens
of Ken Wilber’s AQAL Framework (and the author’s eyes)

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 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 1

Running Head: DORIANNE COTTER-LOCKARD – SCHEIN MAPPED TO WILBER

HOD706 – Social Psychology – In Depth Paper

Edgar Schein’s Organizational Culture and Leadership, as seen through the lens of

Ken Wilber’s AQAL Framework (and the author’s eyes)

Dorianne Cotter-Lockard, doctoral student

Dr. Charles Seashore, Faculty Assessor

Dr. Jerry Snow, Faculty Assessor

Fielding Graduate University

October 29, 2009

Revised: December 30, 2009
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 2

Introduction

The idea for this paper emerged during a dialog with my faculty assessor, Thierry

Pauchant, on my 703-Systems in depth studies. In that paper, I examined Simmons’ (2007)

Thriving Ministry Model, which is based on Wilber’s (Wilber, 2000a) AQAL framework. I

mentioned that I just enrolled in the Social Psychology course and he suggested I read Edgar

Schein’s work to explore whether Schein’s ideas could be mapped to the AQAL model.

Serendipitously, Jerry Snow joined Charlie Seashore as an additional assessor for this course.

Jerry has a keen interest in Wilber’s model, Spiral Dynamics, and related concepts. Even more

exciting, Charlie and Schein are colleagues and friends, so Charlie encouraged me to contact

Schein directly to begin a conversation about his work. The conversation has just begun, yet I

find my doctoral studies have already been significantly influenced by Schein.

In this paper, I describe Schein’s (2004) basic tenets of Organizational Culture and

Leadership and examine the different types of organizational assumptions explored by Schein. I

provide an overview of Wilber’s AQAL that includes discussions about Spiral Dynamics (Beck

& Cowan, 1996) and Cook-Greuter’s (1999) Leadership Development Framework Maturity

Assessment Profile (LDF – MAP). Finally, I map Schein’s tenets to the AQAL model and

discuss my findings.

While writing this paper, I realized that Schein's book is a mammoth work. In the

interest of providing a solid analysis in less than thirty pages, I included the organizational

culture part of Schein’s work in this paper and left out the sections on leadership.
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 3

Basic Tenets of Schein’s Organizational Culture and Leadership

Edgar Schein (2004) sees culture and leadership as two sides of the same coin, stating

that a unique characteristic of leadership is “the creation and management of culture” (p.2). He

rejects a long list of contemporary definitions of culture, preferring to find a deeper

understanding beyond artifacts, culture statements and behaviors. To Schein, culture is dynamic

and multi-faceted; it cannot be easily judged as good/bad, strong/weak, or effective/ineffective.

Culture is contextual and lives within us as individuals as well as within groups of people.

Although leaders help to create and manage culture, culture evolves through a group learning

process and may take on a life of its own. Schein’s definition of culture includes several key

tenets that he explains throughout his work:

A pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its

problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to

be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to

perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. (Schein, 2004, p. 17)

Shared Assumptions and Group Learning

The concept of shared assumptions is the heart and soul of Schein’s tenets of culture.

Group members come to share beliefs and values as they work together. They observe

successful problem resolution and achievements based on their beliefs and values, discarding

those that don’t work in the context of the environment. Beliefs and values become ingrained

over time into group members’ subconscious minds and become nonnegotiable. Schein says that

“if we are willing to argue about something, then it has not become taken for granted” and

therefore the belief or value is still negotiable. Once the belief or value is taken for granted, it is

nonnegotiable and therefore becomes an assumption.

 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 4

Adaptation and Internal Integration

Schein references Weick (1995), stating that we develop patterns of beliefs, behaviors

and rituals to adapt to and make sense of the world. We integrate these patterns within

ourselves, generating a “gestalt” or larger worldview of reality to provide a sense of stability to

our lives (Schein, 2004, p. 15). According to Schein, “culture formation is always, by definition,

a striving toward patterning and integration” (p. 17).

Socialization

A key aspect of stabilizing and inculcating culture is the process of teaching these

patterns of beliefs, behaviors and rituals to new members of the group. Schein’s definition

includes the words “correct way to perceive, think and feel” (2004, p. 17). I interpret this as

correct for this group; meaning a group member who does not adopt the group’s “way” is

admonished and eventually ostracized from the group.

In the second edition of Organizational Culture and Leadership (1992), Schein claims

that the founder or entrepreneur imposes his or her assumptions and beliefs, thus establishing the

culture of the organization. Although the imposition of the founder’s assumptions and beliefs is

the traditional way in which culture is established, more current research indicates this is not

always the case (deLeon, 2001; Druskat & Pescosolido, 2002; Katzenbach & Smith, 1993;

Khodyakov, 2007). In the third edition (2004), Schein adds a second method for establishing

culture through less structured interaction within leaderless groups, opening up a discussion of

culture development within non-hierarchical organization models.

Other Characteristics of Culture

 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 5

Schein provides three other characteristics of culture: structural stability, depth and

breadth. Structural stability is related to group identity; when a member of the group leaves, the

group identity remains intact. Culture exists within the deepest part of ourselves and all aspects

of group functioning are embedded in the culture. Cultures can “live” a long time; they can

morph and change shape, or remain relatively unchanged as long as a group of people carries the

cultural assumptions within their subconscious minds.

Levels of Culture

Schein describes three levels of culture: 1) artifacts, 2) espoused beliefs and values, and

3) underlying assumptions. Each level goes progressively deeper and therefore is harder to

excavate.

Artifacts represent the external physical manifestation of culture. Examples of artifacts

include vision, values and mission statements, organization charts, the physical workspace and

executive offices, and dress codes. Schein includes organizational myths, legends, ceremonies

and communication styles in this level of culture. He contends that artifacts provide a limited

ability to understand culture because they are symbols of the culture and are therefore subject to

the observer’s interpretation, bias and projections.

Espoused beliefs and values are a result of group learning, in which values and beliefs are

tested by applying them to solve problems and accomplish group tasks. When a belief is tested

and it fails to solve a problem, it is discarded and a new belief is adopted. Over time, a belief or

value shows reliable results when applied to accomplishing tasks or solving problems and is

shared by the group. Schein describes this process as social validation, meaning that the beliefs

and “values are confirmed only by the shared social experience of the group” (2004, p. 29).
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 6

Espoused beliefs and values are usually unwritten, but they can take the form of a written creed,

ideology or philosophy, such as The HP Way (Packard, Kirby, & Lewis, 1995).

Schein contends that beliefs or values develop only as a result of showing “reliable

results” when solving problems (2004, p. 29). I’m not convinced this is the only way to

establish beliefs and values within an organization. A belief or value can also be based on a false

premise, such as “they have weapons of mass destruction” or “the Aryan race is supreme over all

others.” The process of social validation is still an important means by which the belief becomes

an assumption.

The deepest level of culture is the set of underlying assumptions; nonnegotiable

unconscious values and beliefs. Schein further states that assumptions “have become so taken

for granted that one finds little variation within a social unit . . . members will find behavior

based on any other premise inconceivable” (2004, p. 31). Schein, similar to Aaronson (2008)

contends that we will take extraordinary measures, such as denial, blaming, and distorting our

memories to preserve our underlying assumptions in order to prevent cognitive dissonance. That

is why organizational change is so difficult; it requires that we excavate the subconscious to

bring underlying assumptions to light, examine them and then challenge them.

Schein uses the metaphor of cultural DNA to represent this deeply embedded set of

underlying assumptions. He states that “the autoimmune system has to be neutralized to sustain

new growth” in the form of cultural change (Schein, 2004, p. 32). Schein references Argyris’

double-loop learning and frame breaking (Argyris et al., 1985; Bartunek, 1984) as a means to go

through this process. Any process that challenges underlying assumptions will cause distress and

anxiety among group members. This requires understanding if the organization is to be capable

of new learning and the ability to address the anxiety resulting from giving up cherished
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 7

assumptions. Schein doesn’t reference Torbert’s triple loop learning in combination with first,

second and third person perspectives as another means to enable systemic change (Chandler &

Torbert, 2003). I wonder why Schein did not reference any of Torbert’s work, since it is highly

relevant to organizational learning and extends Argyris’ work. .

Examining Different Types of Assumptions

The preceding section described the structures of culture, as defined by Schein. This

section describes the content of culture, starting with two interdependent sets of assumptions:

those related to organizational survival in the external environment and assumptions related to

“managing internal integration” (Schein, 2004, p. 85). He then moves deeper into assumptions

about reality, truth, time, space, human nature and relationships.

Survival and External Adaptation

The key artifacts and espoused beliefs related to adaptation and survival include an

organization’s mission, strategy, goals, means to accomplish goals, measurement and methods to

remediate or correct approaches to accomplishing goals. Assumptions are associated with each

of these aspects of the organization.

The mission and strategy address an organization’s “reason to be,” or identity, which is

most often tied to economic growth for businesses and to more altruistic objectives for non-profit

organizations (Schein, 2004, p. 89). Schein points out that there are also “latent” reasons for

organizational existence to support different stakeholder groups, such as jobs in the local

community or health care provision for an underserved neighborhood. Assumptions related to

mission and strategy will dramatically affect the outcomes of decisions made by the
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 8

organization’s leaders. Goals usually address shorter term, more tactical problems and therefore,

a different set of assumptions may pertain to goals than to the mission and strategy.

The means or how an organization accomplishes its mission, strategy and goals are also

shaped by a set of assumptions. The way in which financial and human resource systems are

designed, for example may be very tightly defined and controlled in one organization and very

loose in another. The focus placed on different functions within an organization will also reveal

assumptions about the relative importance of each function. For example, marketing may

receive more attention and status than information technology, or R&D may be “king” while the

Sales department receives a lower priority. Schein mentions our natural tendency toward valuing

territory and how we build assumptions around protecting our turf as we conduct organizational

activities. For example, my former company usually based promotions on how many people a

person managed. Therefore, managers were unwilling to give up groups during reorganization

efforts aimed at aligning business functions. Schein concludes that assumptions related to “the

means by which goals are to be accomplished” are often tied to identity and status issues (2004,

p. 99).

With regard to measurement, organizations may adopt a variety of assumptions, such as

top down micro-management of results, completely delegated decision-making and decisions by

the numbers. Some companies only look at financial measures; other companies adopt a

“balanced scorecard” (Kaplan & Norton, 1996, 2001, 2006) approach that includes measures

such as customer and employee satisfaction.

Finally, organizations make assumptions about appropriate ways to understand and solve

problems. For example, a “do it yourself” organization (like my former company, Countrywide

Financial) will not bring in outside consultants for assistance, whereas another company (e.g.
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 9

Bank of America) that values expert advice regularly brings in consultants. Organizations may

respond differently to failures. 3Com used to give awards to the biggest failures in order to

encourage experimentation. Other companies will fire the department manager after a failure.

Still other organizations will go through a Six Sigma (Pande, 2009) process to analyze how to re-

design processes and improve quality. Schein contends that crises provide the opportunity to

reveal and understand underlying assumptions related to problem solving and remediation.

Furthermore, he states that “responses to crises thus provide opportunities for culture building”

(Schein, 2004, p. 108).

Managing Internal Integration

According to Schein (2004), internal integration issues include “creating a common

language and conceptual categories . . . defining group boundaries and criteria . . . distributing

power and status . . . developing norms of intimacy, friendship and love . . . defining and

allocating rewards and punishments . . . [and] explaining the unexplainable” (Exhibit 6.1, p.

112).

A key concept is the idea of creating common paths to interpret our experience within an

organization. Schein (2004) contends that we have a threshold of tolerance to stimulation and

uncertainty. We create “categories of meaning” to organize our thoughts and feelings in ways

that minimize uncertainty and “filter out what is unimportant while focusing on what is

important” (p. 111). Cross-organizational groups that don’t take the time to understand each

other’s language and categories of meaning can fall into patterns of misunderstanding. An

important aspect of culture development is to come to common definitions of what is real,

important, and the truth.

 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 10

Most interesting to me of these internal integration concepts, is the idea of “managing the

unmanageable and explaining the unexplainable” (Schein, 2004, p. 129). In a science-based

culture, there is an underlying assumption that there is an explanation for everything, we just

need to discover and measure it. Schein discusses how organizations develop stories and myths

and eventually form an ideology similar to those developed by religions, for example, The HP

Way (Packard, et al., 1995), in order to provide answers when scientific methods fail to provide

them. According to Schein, an organization’s ideology can also include rationalizations for the

surprising or mysterious behaviors of its leaders.

Reality, Truth, Time and Space

Schein references several studies to conclude that ethnic and national cultures have

different assumptions about what is real, how truth is determined, and concepts of time and

space. He defines external physical reality as that which can be measured scientifically and

social reality as that which a group agrees is “real,” even though it is not measurable. Decision

making is relegated to one or the other realm of reality. Conflict and confusion ensues when an

organization has difficulty in determining which decisions belong in which realm. Add

individual reality to the mix and you find the shifting sands of what an organization defines as

reality. Schein describes a continuum of criteria for determining truth, starting with “pure

dogma,” continuing through “truth that works” and ending with “truth as established by the

scientific method” (2004, p. 146). I wonder why he stops at scientific truth when there are many

other definitions of truth. Even the definitions of information and knowledge may differ within

organizational sub-groups and across ethnic cultures.

Organizations can be oriented toward the past, present, near future and far future.

However, different national and ethnic groups also have different time orientations. For
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 11

example, Asian companies tend to be future oriented and U. S. companies are near-future

oriented (Hampden-Turner & Trompenaars, 1993). Time can be viewed as monochronic (a

linear series of activities) or as polychronic (cyclical or simultaneous activities). The U. S.

culture primarily views time through a monochronic lens. African, Middle Eastern and Southern

European cultures view time polychronically. Time can also be used to establish status. For

example, one of my former managers regularly had a line of people waiting for hours to meet

with him. In some Latin cultures, an important person may walk right up to the front of a long

line and demand his turn – those waiting in line accept this behavior without complaint due to

the status of the person at the front of the line.

Communication problems erupt when different sub-groups within an organization have

different time horizons on a project. For example, an R&D group develops a product, taking as

long as it needs to create a quality product. However, the sales and marketing organization may

have a shorter time expectation because they are trying to be first to market. These two groups

must come to understand each other’s expectations and the realities of the product development

cycle up front. One interesting point cited (Jaques, 1982, 1989) by Schein is that a competent

manager functions according to appropriate time horizons for their managerial level. A first line

supervisor should be viewing his work on a very short (day or week) time horizon, whereas a

senior manager should view her time horizon in terms of years.

Human Nature and Relationships

Schein comments on several types of assumptions that different cultures carry about human

nature. For example, humans are fundamentally good, neutral or evil, depending on the culture.

Cultures may assume humans are or are not capable of redemption and overcoming limitations.

Motivation theories during the past century are based on different sets of assumptions. For
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 12

example Abraham Maslow (1954) defined a hierarchy of needs. People will be motivated by

satisfaction of their needs, based on where they reside in the hierarchy. In his Theory X – Theory

Y framework, McGregor (1960) defined two types of managers, each operating from a different

set of assumptions. Theory X managers “assume that people are lazy” and Theory Y managers

“assume that people are basically self-motivated” (Schein, 2004, p. 173). These assumptions

translate to levels of trust and empowerment in how these managers treat their employees.

Schein concludes that current motivation theories recognize the complexity of human nature.

Therefore human nature cannot be generalized by one set of underlying assumptions. It follows

that context determines how humans will behave and perform in organizations.

Some organizations assume a doing orientation, others assume a being orientation and

some assume a being-in-becoming orientation. Schein claims that “ ‘doing’ is the predominant

orientation in the United States” (Schein, 2004, p. 175). A doing orientation assumes human

dominion over nature, that human nature is perfectible and we should approach reality from a

pragmatist view. The being orientation assumes a fatalist view and that we are subservient to

nature. Therefore, we should accept and enjoy our circumstances in the “here and now” (p. 176).

The being-in-becoming orientation seeks to achieve balance, harmony and unity with nature.

We should work towards self-realization through mindfulness, understanding and practices such

as meditation, focusing on who we are rather than what we can do.

Schein contends there are four basic problems that individuals within organizations must

address. Our assumptions about human relationships will determine how we solve these

problems. These problems are: 1) identity and role; 2) power and influence; 3) needs and goals;

and 4) acceptance and intimacy (Schein, 2004, p. 179). For example, in my former company,

roles were well defined and we used a role-description template to help individuals regularly
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 13

revisit their roles and associated activities. People identified as belonging to specific project

teams aligned with business divisions.

Power and influence came with job titles. However, an individual could exert influence

without having an authoritative title because they had significant expertise in a topic. We took

care to help employees find roles that met their personal needs and goals in addition to the needs

of the company. Different groups within the company allowed varying levels of acceptance and

intimacy. Loyalty and tenure were key values and it took a long time to be accepted into a

group. For, example, it took six years of working closely with my male “C-level” colleagues

before they invited me to “join the guys” for drinks on Friday after work.

Cultures may be individualistic or collectively oriented. They may assume a clear

distinction between aspects of work and family, or not. Cultures have different assumptions

regarding male and female roles, as well as how ethnic, racial, religious and age groups are

treated. Schein’s key conclusion for this section is that the topic of human nature and

relationships within cultures is highly complex and the related assumptions lie at a very deep

level of our subconscious.

The All Quadrants – All Levels (AQAL) Model 1

Wilber (2000a) created the AQAL model to help describe essential characteristics of the

Kosmos. He defines Kosmos as “the patterned nature or process of all domains of existence,”

which includes the physical and non-physical aspects of the universe (p. 16). The Kosmos is

comprised of “whole/parts” called holons. Holons have four intrinsic “pulls”: between part and

whole (or agency and communion) and between up and down (or transcendence and dissolution).

1
This section contains an excerpt from my KA703 In-Depth Paper (completed July 20, 2009). That paper examines
Simmons’ (2007) Thriving Ministry Model, which is based on Wilber’s AQAL model.
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 14

Additionally, each holon has an external and an internal aspect. These are represented in

Wilber’s (1999) AQAL diagram (Figure 1). The upper two quadrants are individual

characteristics and the bottom two are collective. The left two quadrants are internally focused

and the right two quadrants are externally focused. The concentric circles represent the up/down

natural hierarchy of holons, called a holarchy. Holons “become parts of new wholes” through an

emergent process of transcendence. A holon that transcends its level still includes the holons at

previous levels. The resulting holon has a greater level of complexity and is considered to be

deeper than holons at prior levels. Increasing depth means increasing complexity or levels of

evolution. Wilber describes this movement in three major stages: “subconscious to self-

conscious to superconscious” (Wilber, 2000a, p. 38). If a holon at a lower level of the holarchy

is destroyed, the holons at higher levels dependent on this holon are also destroyed.

Agency

Internal External

Communion
Figure 1 (Wilber, 2000a, p. 247)

In Wilber’s later work (2006), he states that “all quadrants arise together, they are co-

emergent tetra-arisings . . . as correlative dimensions of the same thing” (p. 146). Therefore,
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 15

each individual holon contains attributes of all four quadrants. Wilber further qualifies that

social holons are different from individual holons and “only individual holons possess 4

quadrants; the other can be looked at from 4 quadrants” (p. 146). For simplicity’s sake, I present

the basic concepts of each of the four quadrants separately in the following sections with the

caveat that they are in reality interrelated.

Individual Interior

The upper left (UL) quadrant represents the internal individual, or “I” aspect of a holon,

which Wilber calls the “subjective or interior awareness” of a holon (2000a, p. 69). From a

human development perspective, this quadrant reflects levels of developmental maturity,

intentionality and consciousness. Wilber (2000b) defines a developmental line which begins

with prehension and ascends through several levels to nondual consciousness (Figure 2 only

displays up to the vision-logic stage). Cook-Greuter (Cook-Greuter, 1999, 2002) builds on

Wilber’s and Loevinger’s (1998; Loevinger & Wessler, 1970) work with an empirically tested

stage model of ego development. Her model is based on increasing complexity in meaning

making and the ego stages are grouped into pre-conventional, conventional, post-conventional,

and post-postconventional (transpersonal) categories (see Figure 3).

 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 16

Figure 2 (Wilber, 2000a)

According to Cook-Greuter (2002) the predominant individual developmental stages

(about 70%) in the world today are at the conventional level. These include the

Diplomat/Conformist, Expert/Self-Conscious, and Achiever-Conscientious stages. The earlier

Conformist stage is not conscious of the individual self. People at this stage tend to identify with

their ethnic or religious group and have an “us” versus “them” worldview. People at the Expert

stage begin to take a third person perspective, though they do not take responsibility for their

mistakes as they value “being right.” It is at the Achiever stage that psychological

understanding, cause and effect, and envisioning the future become important to the individual.

Reasoning, science and choice are important to people at this stage.

 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 17

Figure 3 – Leadership Development Framework Spiral of Development (Cook-Greuter, 2004)

Cook-Greuter claims that about 20% of the world’s population is at the postconventional

stage, which includes the Pluralist, Strategist and Magician stages. Pluralists challenge

conventions and belief systems. They value multiple perspectives and recognize the human

tendency toward self-deception. Relativity and context are important at this stage. The

Strategist has a full understanding of the interconnections of life. Interdependence, integrity,

principles and the dignity of all people are very important to the Strategist. This is the first stage

that appreciates and embraces all of the earlier stages. The Magician focuses on accepting their

internal existential paradoxes, sees life from a global and historical perspective, and is aware “of

both the greatness and insignificance of being” (Cook-Greuter, 2009, p. 4). Less than 1% of the

population would be considered to be post-postconventional or at the Ironist stage, in which one

transcends the ego to experience unity with the universe.

Collective Interior

The lower left (LL) quadrant represents the internal collective aspect of a holon, which

Wilber defines as the culture, values or “shared collective worldview” (Wilber, 2000a). Clare

Graves’ work (Beck & Cowan, 1996; Graves & Lee, 2002) on successive levels of increasing
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 18

complexity in value systems, called vMemes within the Spiral Dynmics (SD) model, can be used

to describe an example of a developmental line in this quadrant. There are currently eight (with

a ninth emerging) vMemes or levels of existence within the SD model (see Figure 4). Beck &

Cowan (1996) assigned colors to each level in the spiral (to replace Graves’ letter assignments)

for easier reference.

According to the SD model, people, organizations and societies must go through each

level of existence in order to move to another, more complex level. Depending on conditions,

people, organizations or societies can regress to former levels. At any one time, a society at a

specific vMeme “center of gravity” will contain groups of people whose values are of lesser or

greater levels of complexity.

Wilber (2006) later revised and clarified his ideas on the collective interior, stating that

“individual holons go through mandatory stages, social holons don’t” (p. 151). He claims that

Graves’ theory is an individual structure-stage theory, not a social stage theory and the discourse

among group members aligns with the “structure of the dominant monad of the individuals who

run the discourse in the social holon” (p. 151). Wilber contends that a group of people can jump

stages simply by changing membership. When individuals with a particular dominant individual

developmental stage leave the group and others join the group with another dominant individual

stage, the group structure of discourse changes.

While this concept applies to smaller groups, I contend that large groups will not easily

jump stages. A large organization will not move from one vMeme to another without a

significant number of individuals within the organization developing to the next stage. The

individuals wouldn’t skip a developmental stage, therefore the organization wouldn’t either. The

phenomenon of large groups of people moving in and out of a large organization (as Wilber
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 19

describes in his small group poker game example) or society is not common, except in a few

cases of corporate mergers and acquisitions.

The predominant vMemes in the world today are the Conformist Rule (Blue) and

Scientific Achievement (Orange). Blue cultures embrace an absolutist worldview based on rigid

beliefs about “right” and “wrong.” Blue cultures believe there is only one right way to think and

behave which is exemplified as codes of conduct, honor, charitable good deeds, religious

institutions and fundamentalism. According to Wilber (Wilber, 2000b), Blue cultures comprise

40 percent of the current population and 30 percent of world power.

Figure 4 Spiral Dynamics (Beck & Cowan, 1996)

Orange cultures seek truth and meaning through the scientific method. They value

rational thinking, materialism, the machine model of life and believe that natural laws can be

manipulated for one’s own benefit. For them, life is like a game where there are winners and

losers. Examples of this vMeme are multi-national corporations, Wall Street, and the emergence

of the middle class in India. According to Wilber (Wilber, 2000b), Orange cultures comprise 30

percent of the current population and 50 percent of world power. These percentages may have

shifted during the past thirteen years since Beck & Cowan (1996) first published their book.
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 20

The next level of vMeme, Sensitive Self/Egalitarian (Green), is considered to be the top

of the First Tier of vMemes. The Green culture values connection, community, and consensus.

The planet and nature must be protected and healed. Green cultures exhibit a postmodern

worldview, rejecting rational cause and effect and the mechanistic worldview of modernism.

Examples include eco-feminism, animal rights, nationalized healthcare, academia and diversity

programs. According to Wilber (Wilber, 2000b), Green cultures comprise 10 percent of the

current population and 15 percent of world power.

All of the first tier vMemes are considered to be fear-based cultures. It is considered a

huge transformational shift for a culture to move to the second tier and very few individuals have

thus far (only 1 percent of the population and 5 percent of world power). A second tier culture

values and embraces people in the other vMemes. The first level of the second tier, Integrative

(Yellow), demonstrates a complex integrated systems worldview. This culture values

competency and excellence in addition to egalitarianism. The Yellow vMeme first emerged in

the 1970’s and is exemplified in many high tech companies and in Web 2.0 concepts (e.g.

FaceBook, MySpace, collaborative product design and blogs, Wikipedia, etc.).

Individual Exterior

The upper right (UR) quadrant represents the individual exterior or physical “it” aspect of

a holon. The exterior can be measured and studied according to Newtonian laws. Examples

include atoms, molecules, plants, animals, and humans. Biology, physiology and brain science

are some of the key means to explore and understand aspects of this quadrant. Wilber contends

that most of the world’s attention is focused on understanding and living in this and the LR

quadrant, to the exclusion of the interior quadrants. He calls this exclusively exterior focus

“flatland” (Wilber, 2000a, p. 118). The flatland perspective reduces interior (UL and LL)
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 21

aspects to related exterior (UR and LR) aspects. To “flatlanders,” if it can’t be measured in

scientific terms, it doesn’t exist. Therefore, to a flatlander, spirituality and the soul do not exist.

Aspects that add value, depth, or beauty are considered to be epiphenomena and therefore the

universe of possibilities is reduced to a flat, colorless land. This is the dominant Western

scientific world view, in which the UL and LL quadrants are deemed irrelevant.

Collective Exterior

The lower right (LR) quadrant represents the collective exterior or physical “its” aspect

of holons. This quadrant includes structures of community, such as technology, economy,

political states, and social systems. Interestingly, Wilber begins the developmental line in this

quadrant with galaxies at the most primary level, continues to planets, Gaia system, heterotrophic

ecosystems, moves through families, tribes, villages and states and finally returns to “planetary”

social structures.

Integral Organizational Development

Ideally, individuals and organizations should evolve along multiple developmental lines

concurrently in all four quadrants. Jonathan Reams describes the process of development as

“one of fusion or identification with one level, a differentiation from or transcendence of that

level, and an integration and inclusion of the new level” (2005, p. 121). Cacioppe & Edwards

(2005b) mention several different lines of development across the four quadrants, including

leadership, governance, ethics, community relations and organizational culture. The authors also

emphasize the importance of organizational dynamics, especially growth and integrative

processes, in supporting development along multiple lines (p. 91).

Cacioppe & Edwards (2005b) propose an integral organizational development (IOD)

model that combines aspects of Spiral Dynamics (Beck & Cowan, 1996), the Corporate
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 22

Transformation model (Barrett, 1998), and Action Inquiry (Torbert & Cook-Greuter, 2004) and

relates them to AQAL. Their model defines the developmental levels for organizations in terms

of organizational behavior, culture and systems and leadership consciousness (2005b, pp. 100-

101).

Schein’s organizational culture and process consulting models have been taught as

foundational knowledge in the organizational psychology field for the past four decades. Schein

and others have revised, updated and added to these models over time. The works of Wilber,

Cook-Greuter, Beck and Cowan offer additional models for consideration. In the next section, I

attempt to draw a bridge between these models to provide another perspective and invoke new

questions about organizational development.

Schein’s Organizational Culture and Leadership Mapped to AQAL

Structures of Culture

In Figure 5, I mapped Wilber’s AQAL to Schein’s structures of culture. Most of the

structures fall into the external, or right side quadrants. I placed the most concrete artifacts in the

UR quadrant. I positioned artifacts that are generated through social dynamics in the LR

quadrant. The LR quadrant also contains espoused beliefs and values as well as the socialization

process. The LL quadrant contains the internalized, non-negotiable assumptions. This is the

quadrant where the essence of culture is embedded in group consciousness. The process of

patterning and forming a cultural identity also belong in this quadrant. Schein does not really

discuss aspects of the UL quadrant in this part of his book other than to mention that individuals

integrate patterns of cultural beliefs, behaviors and values. He addresses aspects of this quadrant

in greater detail in the sections on leadership. I included concentric circles with the Spiral
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 23

Dynamics colors to suggest development takes place within and across each quadrant with

regard to the structures of culture.

Figure 5: Schein & AQAL - culture structures

Categories of Assumptions – Mapped as Developmental Lines

As I read through Schein’s discussion and examples of the different types of assumptions,

I began to see groups of assumptions in terms of developmental lines within the quadrants. The

assumptions related to external adaptation, internal integration and relationships all fall into the

LR quadrant. I incorporated Spiral Dynamics levels in the mapping for these three categories of

assumptions. Schein’s description and examples fall mainly into the Blue and Orange levels. I
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 24

included my own interpretation of the assumptions that I think would fall into Green and second

tier levels. I also extended the model to earlier levels for illustration.

In Figure 6, I created a developmental line to represent examples of survival and external

adaptation assumptions at each level. These assumptions undergird an organization’s approach to

defining mission, strategy, and goals and the means to accomplish them.

Figure 6: Schein & AQAL - external adaptation assumptions

In Figure 7, I generated a single statement at each developmental level to capture the

baseline assumption related to all of the internal integration categories, except for “explaining the

unexplainable.” I added a separate assumption example to illustrate how each level in the spiral

attempts to explain life’s mysteries.

 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 25

Figure 7: Schein & AQAL – internal integration assumptions

 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 26

In Figure 8, I created assumptions for each of the four relationship problems defined by

Schein (2004, p. 179) at each level of the spiral based on my understanding of these levels.

Figure 8: Schein & AQAL - relationship assumptions

 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 27

Deeper Assumptions Mapped to Cook-Greuter’s LDF Ego-Development Stages

The deeper assumptions of reality, truth, time, space and human nature span multiple quadrants. Therefore, instead of

mapping them as developmental lines in the four quadrants, I applied Susanne Cook-Greuter’s ego-developmental stages (2002) to

develop assumptions for each of these categories.

Ego Development Reality Truth Time Space Human Nature

Stage1

Magician Reality is the interplay of We catch a glimpse of an Multiple time Everything is connected ; space Being-in-becoming
mind, body, spirit, and underlying non-dual truth horizons is designed and used to moving to Being (with a
Deep processes rule action. We create reality during times of insight . promote well-being and different definition than
principles, 5th person through language. Become the witness. Live Non-local time sustainability Schein’s)
perspective in the paradoxes.

Strategist Reality is co-created Truth can be modeled. It Multiple time Time, space and action are Being-in-becoming
through system is so complex that we can horizons interconnected; space is
Higher principles rule interdependence. only arrive at an designed and used to promote
relativism, 4th person approximate truth. Polychronic well-being and sustainability
perspective Chaos is natural.

Pluralist Reality is relative. Life is Truth is relative and can Here and now Put manager’s offices inside Self-actualization;
a process. Postmodern never definitively be and give staff window views.
Radical relativism rules view. found. Polychronic Everything in context:
systems view, 4th person Egalitarian; earth-friendly
Social conditions
perspective
Life cycle
Being-in-becoming

Achiever Reality is physical and can Truth is established Near future Office size and location = Theory Y managers;
be measured scientifically. through scientific method. orientation status.
System effectiveness and Hierarchy of needs;
logic rules, 3rd person Monochronic Get “in your face” to win.
Learning, growing,
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 28

Ego Development Reality Truth Time Space Human Nature

Stage1

perspective Sit next to the boss at the winning; We are

conference table. perfectible. Doing

Expert Reality is physical and can Truth survives debate. Past moving to near Need good equipment and Theory X managers;
be measured scientifically. future orientation tools, with enough space and
Craft logic rules norms, Truth is what works – privacy to do the job. Learning, growing, We
pragmatism. Monochronic are perfectible.
3rd person perspective
Doing

Diplomat Reality is defined by Truth is defined by Past orientation Private dining rooms and Original sin
ideology and dogma. ideology and dogma. bathrooms for leaders.
Norms rule needs. Monochronic Right and wrong
Conformist, 2nd person Redemption is possible
perspective
Being moving to Doing
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 29

Discussion and Conclusion

Schein’s framework and examples clearly fall into the Spiral Dynamics (Beck & Cowan,

1996) Blue/Orange levels and into the Diplomat, Expert, and Achiever stages of Cook-Gretuer’s

(2002) ego-development LDF. He brings in a few examples of Green or the Pluralist stage, but

does not explore second tier territory. This focus makes sense, since only 20% of the world is at

Green or higher stages. There are very few, if any examples of second-tier organizations;

research in this arena is just beginning (Cacioppe & Edwards, 2005a, 2005b).

Schein’s structures of culture (Figure 5) mapped easily to Wilber’s AQAL (2000a). Each

of Schein’s three levels of culture moves around the four quadrants from UR to LR to LL as we

move to deeper levels. As expected, I found that the external adaptation assumptions mapped to

the UR quadrant and the relationship assumptions mapped well to the LR quadrant. I expected

the internal integration assumptions to map to one of the left quadrants. After thinking through

each of the types of assumptions in Schein’s list, I decided they really belong in the LR quadrant.

Language categories, boundaries, criteria for group admission, norms, distribution of power and

status, etc. are external aspects of social dynamics. The examples that Schein gave for

explaining the unexplainable, such as ways a company faced a crisis, fixing a medical scanner by

kicking it, or stories around how a company survived an economic disaster, describe how a

company creates ideology. Ideology fits into the category of espoused beliefs, which I mapped

to the LR quadrant in Figure 5.

The deeper assumptions related to truth, time, space, reality and human nature can map to

different quadrants depending on the predominant ego-development stage of the organization.

For example, assumptions about reality, truth and human nature fit into the LR and LL quadrants

for Diplomat, Expert and Achiever stage organizations. Assumptions about time and space fall
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 30

into the UR quadrant for these stages. For Pluralist organizations, most of the assumptions

reside in the LL and UL quadrants, although space resides in the LR quadrant. I surmise that

these deeper assumptions in a second tier organization would all reside in the LL and UL

quadrants. The movement of assumptions toward the internal-oriented quadrants as an

organization moves to later ego-development stages indicates a progressive deepening of

consciousness.

Wilber (2006) discusses “the shadow and the disowned self” at length, as influenced by

the work of Freud and Jung, stating that “this is one of the half dozen truly great discoveries of

all time” in psychology (p. 120). Wilber describes our experience of the shadow through the

language of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person perspectives. We repress disowned aspects of ourselves; our

1st person feelings, impulses and beliefs and they subsequently show up as 2nd or 3rd person

projections. For example, if I believe it’s wrong to get directly angry with someone, I will

project my angry feelings on that person, a group of people, or an object. Everyone else is angry,

except me. Because I have suppressed this shadow aspect of myself, I am blind to the true

source of the anger. The disowned-self can apply to positive and negative qualities, feelings and

beliefs.

From a human development perspective, we can continue to develop to later stages of

complexity in the LDF-MAP or Spiral Dynamics models without addressing the disowned-self.

However, individuals who do not find, face and “re-own” their shadow will develop neuroses or

pathologies along the way (Wilber, 2006, p. 123). According to Wilber, we cannot “try to

meditate the shadow away” or use medication to address this issue (p. 123). We must

proactively unearth the shadow, re-integrate and own it. Much has been written during the past
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 31

twenty years by others about processes we can use to identify and embrace the shadow (Abrams

& Zweig, 1991; Ford, 1998, 2002; Hollis, 1993, 1996, 2007; Johnson, 1991).

Schein (2004) only indirectly addresses the shadow. Since unconsciously held

assumptions are the basis for organizational culture, Schein points out several examples of

organizations in which an espoused theory and the theory-in-use conflict. Organizations often

build myths to give more credence to the espoused theory. In such cases, culture change

becomes almost impossible, except through disaster, scandal, myth explosion and whistle-

blowing. Organizations that were forced to look at their organizational shadow as a result of a

disaster or scandal include, Enron, Three Mile Island, and my former company (Countrywide

Financial).

Schein (2004) also includes a section on how leaders send conflicting signals to their

organizations when they have not faced their own internal unconscious conflicts (p. 252). This

results in forced accommodation, so “the organization’s style of operating will reflect the very

biases and unconscious conflicts that the founder experiences” (p. 253). According to some

scholars, this process results in organizational neuroses (Kets de Vries & Miller, 1988, 1990).

Schein’s recommendation is for leaders to encourage and remain open to critical information that

challenge myths and inconsistencies within an organization.

Schein supports Lewin’s (1947) unfreeze-change-refreeze model to manage culture

change. Schein describes three major “defensive responses” that characterize learning anxiety

among members of an organization that is undergoing change. These are: 1) denial; 2)

scapegoating, passing the buck, dodging; and 3) maneuvering, bargaining (p. 331). These

defensive responses parallel Wilber’s description of the shift from 1st to 2nd and 3rd person

perspectives. Whereas Wilber prescribes a direct means to move the shift back to a 1st person
 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 32

perspective by owning the shadow, Schein (2004) recommends eight methods to provide

“psychological safety” such as training, role models, support groups and rewards (p. 332-3).

Although Schein includes processes to unearth unconscious assumptions, these methods do not

directly address owning and re-integrating the dysfunction.

I agree with Schein’s contention that culture is dynamic, multi-faceted and shaped by the

organization’s context. He stresses that group learning is the major process of forming culture.

He also mentions socialization as a means to teach the culture to new members. What would the

socialization process for a second tier organization look like? I think there would be more

awareness of a group consciousness and how an individual aligns with it. Perhaps a second tier

organization consciously crafts myths, legends and rituals to support a consciously defined

culture. It still needs to create artifacts such as a vision and mission statement for

communication purposes. However the content and intention of these artifacts might express a

larger worldview and time horizon than our current artifacts.

Would a second tier organization deal with cognitive dissonance related to change

differently from other organizations? Such an organization might institute regular practices to

deal with the anxiety of giving up cherished assumptions. These practices may include

meditation, visioning, Buddhist mindfulness, shadow work and experiential exercises to excavate

subconscious beliefs and values. Once the subconscious is brought to light and examined, the

group can consciously decide to accept, discard or modify the assumptions.

I envision that a second tier organization encourages authentic communication and

connection among its members. Categories like group boundaries, status, rewards and

punishments may no longer have relevance in this type of organization.

 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 33

I look forward to the day when I can validate, through research with second tier

companies, the content of the second tier assumptions I created for the diagrams in this paper.

Most interesting to me about tying together Schein and Wilber is Schein’s idea that culture is

constructed entirely of unconscious assumptions. One of the key tenets in Wilber’s model is

progressive development to higher levels of consciousness, which translate to awareness. Will

Schein’s definition of culture change as organizations evolve to higher developmental stages and

assumptions no longer remain unconscious?

 Cotter-Lockard: Schein Mapped to Wilber 34

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