The Iceberg Model of Organisational Culture: what lies beneath the surface of team behaviour?

The Iceberg Model is a compelling framework which uses the metaphor of an iceberg to show how the things that people do are supported by deeper, often unseen, values and beliefs. It is a valuable tool for grasping the complexities of workplace interactions, emphasising the importance of looking beyond the surface to understand the underlying layers that shape the way people behave the way they do.

Originally developed by anthropologist Edward Hall in 1976 in relation to a nation’s culture, the Iceberg model has since been applied to culture in organisations.

Why implicit beliefs and values are important in the workplace

We often pretend that everything in the workplace is about results, actions, decisions – but building a cohesive team and getting things to run smoothly is much easier if you are willing to pay attention to what is going on below the waterline. Feelings, attitudes, needs, identity – are equally if not more important than the things you are usually expected to pay attention to.

And yet in most workplaces, we rarely talk about these things and instead focus on being ‘professional’.

However it makes sense to be aware of the human side of things at work – especially during a time of change or a reorganisation, because if you have empathy for people’s feelings and needs, and recognise the threat to their identity and security that a change can introduce, you can support them through a challenging period more effectively.

Why empathy is important in organisations

Empathy means being able to understand and relate to someone else’s view of the world without judgement and from their point of view.

As a leader, manager and as a colleague, empathy is useful as it can help you to:

• Recognise when your team members are upset, stressed or frustrated.
• Respond to their needs appropriately, and
• Avoid making things worse by failing to respect and acknowledge their reality, and instead help them by being curious about what is going on for them.

Intentionally pausing to ask yourself what might be going on for other people, and even better asking them the question is a great way to develop this skill.

Use the Iceberg Model to build empathy

The iceberg model is a simple diagram of the human experience.

Like icebergs, what we see and know of others is generally just the tip of what is going on for people.

In the workplace, the explicit, above-the-waterline things commonly include:

• Results – the ability to achieve common goals. What your team accomplishes, not just the tasks they’re doing,
• Actions and decisions – the tasks and steps that need to be taken to achieve specific objectives or outcomes,
• Behaviours – observable actions, gestures, rituals, and customs that people engage in on a daily basis,
• Relationships – multifaceted interpersonal connections and rapport built between colleagues that promote trust, collaboration, and a positive team dynamic, or not,
• Communication – the exchange of information, ideas, and feedback among team members to achieve shared goals and foster collaboration.

These are easy to see.

What is harder to see in others is what is hidden, i.e. the implicit things that are below the surface.

This includes conscious and unconscious thoughts, feelings, attitudes, fears and assumptions which we aren’t aware of and don’t usually know much about, and in some cases neither might they!

These include things such as:

• Values – underlying beliefs and principles that define what is considered necessary, worthwhile, and desirable,
• Beliefs – accepted truths or convictions that people hold, including religious, moral, and philosophical,
• Feelings and intuitions – the emotional responses and gut instincts that influence how individuals perceive situations, make decisions, and interact with others,
• Attitudes and assumptions – unconscious, taken-for-granted aspects,
• Unwritten rules – unspoken subtle guidelines that govern social rules and the acceptable ways to navigate various situations,
• Needs – requirements essential for well-being and fulfilment,
• Fears – uncomfortable emotions aroused by impending danger, whether the threat is real or imagined,
• Identity – an individual’s mental image of themselves that provides meaning, direction, and a sense of self-control,
• Self-worth – the value you give to your life and achievements.

The famous thing about icebergs is that 90% of their mass is hidden below the waterline. That’s significant in organisational contexts too.

For example, if someone’s identity – the way they see themselves – is that of an academic with a fair amount of autonomy and quite a lot of freedom to manage their time and their interests, when they are promoted to head of department with managerial responsibilities, you might expect that they would be delighted. You might think that they saw this as an important next step in their career and that they had been selected for their suitability to the role.

A little while later when people start complaining about them, you might start to question their capability, shake your head sadly at the inevitability of underperforming academic leadership.

Of course something very different might have been going on for them. Maybe they didn’t ask for this role, but they were the last to step back when the call for volunteers was placed. “It’s my turn,” they may have thought. “I will be a good colleague and step up. I’m sure I will be supported with a Head of School to report to and lots of colleagues who have done it before to help. There is some training on offer too. Plus everyone seems to know what they are doing – it will be fine. I can finish my book over the summer break.”

Instead they receive a steady flow of colleagues bringing their complaints, problems, and legitimate needs, and they experience a corresponding loss of freedom to do the research and teaching prep they really wanted to do. It turned out to be a lot more challenging than they expected!

I don’t just mean from a time-management point of view. It might raise all sorts of internal questions about who they are: “was this a terrible mistake? Will my academic reputation ever recover?

“Will I miss out on promotion because I just can’t get to write those last two chapters?

“Do my colleagues respect me, because they certainly don’t seem interested in helping?

“Can everyone see just how much of an imposter I feel? Why has no one ever taught me how to do this?

“Why do I have to sort out the family holiday / put up the shelves / take my mother to the hospital on top of all this?

“It’s all my fault.. It’s not my fault…”

How might someone behave with all that going on?

They might become crabby, overly directive, or prone to spontaneous tears. They might freeze, paralysed by fears of failure, of losing their job, their career. They might lose all their confidence and find themselves isolated, alone and increasingly alarmed.

On the other hand, of course, they might discover a clear sense of purpose and direction. They might discover a natural aptitude, feel their confidence bloom and become brilliant at being a manager.

Though in the latter case I would bet it is probably preceded by the former angst. It will be a roller coaster however it pans out. All too often we see people in this situation with very limited support and certainly not set up to succeed.

And whatever someone from the outside concludes, there are always a lot of hidden things beneath the surface that are driving the behaviours that you can see.

If you are interacting with this person, it’d be good to have an appreciation of this, to be open to their perspectives and be curious about what is actually going on.

If Faculty managers started with the below the waterline stuff from the off, they would probably design the way they recruit, onboard and support new Heads of Departments differently.

The Iceberg model – how to use it

At ThenSomehow we present the Iceberg model at the start of workshops to set the scene for why relationships and relational aspects are so important in the workplace, why they can go awry so easily and why they can then become so hard to deal with.

What we explore with groups is how to go below the waterline, so that they can build a better understanding of what is going on.

Because the more you pay attention, the richer the picture becomes.

So at one level the Iceberg model is a checklist you can use to make sure you are thinking about the right kinds of things. It definitely helps to be thinking about this stuff, but you cannot know for sure.

Unless you ask them.

Using the iceberg model with groups

The iceberg model is a useful prompt for a better kind of conversation. It’s a way into what might otherwise be an awkward conversation. It is especially powerful when you have that conversation as a group.

That way everyone gets to hear from others and you can build a shared understanding of what is going on; with all the nuanced differences. You all get to appreciate the needs and fears of the group. You discover what you have in common and where you differ. You listen and share, you build trust, you make meaning together, you can all respect that. You all get to feel heard and not alone and empowered to respond, not just react, to what’s happening around you.

If you are in a leadership role, it’s not a tool you can use to get ‘leverage’ or ‘influence’ and manipulate the people around you: to control them in any predictable way.

Instead it’s more about holding a space for building shared understanding so you can align around shared needs.

Creating spaces like that is one way you can help people rethink who they are in an uncertain and evolving environment. The iceberg metaphor is a helpful way to enable others into that conversation. That is, I think, truly important work for leaders, managers and colleagues to be doing together.

Here’s an example

We have been working with a client group that is a blend of professional services people and academics from a UK university. Some in the group are in senior leadership roles, others are mid-grade and one is a lower grade. It is a really interesting mix.

The aim of the group is to explore a new paradigm for leading the particular HE school they work at. This is being done in a very transparent and open way.

In one Action Learning Set the most senior person was describing a situation that everybody in the group had empathy with: a difficult colleague who had been creating some low level toxicity, and who they were avoiding as a result.

The wisdom and advice that came from the group was incredibly useful for this senior person, yet it came from people who were the most junior.

Several of them shared how they shy away from conflict, and how it’s easier to avoid difficult people.

“But what might be driving that behaviour?” others asked. “What are the anxieties or the fears that are driving them?”

“Are there ways that you might support that person so that you diffuse some of the negative behaviours, because you found a way for them to reframe their identity, for example?” asked one junior person, who had fully understood the iceberg model.

It was a really interesting way of putting it because ignoring it won’t go away. And continuing to do the same thing isn’t going to work either.

“We can never grow to become great business leaders until we actively strive to embrace the behaviours and attitudes that feel most uncomfortable to us.”
Charles Hampden-Turner

Keeping an Open Mind Reduces Emotional Reactions

Keeping an open mind allows you to move beyond snap judgments and consider alternative explanations for people’s behaviour. This can transform your emotional reaction and create opportunities to engage more constructively.
For instance, if one of your team members misses a deadline, your initial reaction might be frustration, thinking they’re lazy or uncommitted. But what if there’s another reason?

• They may be dealing with a family emergency.
• They might be stuck on a task but unsure how to ask for help.
• Or perhaps they did send the work, but it landed in your spam folder. (It’s worth checking!)

The goal isn’t to guess the exact cause but to remain open to the possibilities. By reframing the situation, you can reduce the intensity of your emotional response. This helps you stay composed, manage your reactions, and approach the issue with a mindset geared toward problem-solving rather than blame.

The Iceberg Model supports this process by encouraging you to look beyond the surface – the missed deadline – and consider what unseen factors might be at play.

Look beneath the surface: what’s happening for your team?

To lead and manage effectively, it’s essential to understand what’s driving your team members’ behaviours. The Iceberg Model offers a framework to explore these underlying factors — implicit beliefs, values, and past experiences — that are shaping their actions.

Here are some ways to delve beneath the waterline:

• Open Conversations: Create a space for team members to share their thoughts and feelings about a specific issue. Ask open-ended questions and listen actively to uncover hidden concerns or motivations.
• Core Values Exploration: Discuss what matters most to your team members. If someone has a concern or reaction to something that happened, pause to explore what feelings, assumptions or beliefs might be driving that reaction. Understanding how our beliefs and values can differ helps illuminate why others respond to situations in different ways.
• Reflecting on Past Experiences: Acknowledge how previous challenges, successes, or relationships might influence our responses and behaviour. A great way to practice this regularly is to run retro’s during and at the end of projects to reflect on how people are experiencing working together (we are specifically not talking about the project tasks in these moments).

For example, a team member might hesitate to speak up in meetings because of cultural norms or past experiences where they were dismissed. Another might seem overly cautious around leadership because of a difficult relationship with a previous boss.

By using the Iceberg Model, you can approach situations with curiosity and empathy, recognising that behaviours often stem from complex, unseen influences. This broader perspective can not only help you lead more effectively but can also build trust and strengthen your team’s culture.

At ThenSomehow we help universities and other HE organisations build emotional literacy, increase empathy, and help you see the world differently, giving you practical tools to shift the stuff that’s stuck.

If you’d like to discuss how we can help your organisation develop leaders and perform better, get in touch here.