Edgar Schein (1928-2023) was a giant in the fields of organizational development, culture, and leadership. As a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, his work provided the foundational language and frameworks for understanding the hidden forces that shape how organizations behave. His concepts of organizational culture, process consultation, and humble inquiry have had an enduring impact on both academics and practitioners.

On Organizational Culture

  1. "The culture of a group can be defined as a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned 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." - Organizational Culture and Leadership. This is his foundational, and most widely cited, definition of culture.
  2. "Culture is the way we do things around here." While a simplification, Schein acknowledged this common phrase as the behavioral manifestation of culture's deeper levels.
  3. The Three Levels of Culture: Artifacts, Espoused Beliefs and Values, and Basic Underlying Assumptions. This is his most famous model for understanding culture, moving from the visible to the invisible. - Organizational Culture and Leadership.
  4. "The most powerful part of a culture is its underlying assumptions." - Organizational Culture and Leadership. He stressed that this deepest, unconscious level is where the true power of culture lies.
  5. "Culture is to a group what personality or character is to an individual." - Organizational Culture and Leadership. This analogy helps explain culture's pervasive and identity-defining nature.
  6. "Culture is a learned, shared, and dynamic phenomenon." It is not static; it evolves with the organization's experiences.
  7. "You do not 'create' a culture. It is created out of the shared history of the organization." - Schein was skeptical of claims that culture could be easily engineered or installed.
  8. "The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture." - Organizational Culture and Leadership. This is one of his most provocative statements on the primacy of a leader's role in shaping culture.
  9. "If leaders do not become conscious of the cultures in which they are embedded, those cultures will manage them." - Organizational Culture and Leadership.
  10. "Culture begins with a leader imposing his or her own values and assumptions on a group." He identified founders as the primary architects of an organization's initial culture.
  11. "Never start with the idea of changing a culture. Start with the problem the organization is trying to solve." He advocated for a practical, problem-oriented approach rather than attempting to change culture for its own sake.
  12. "Don't talk about culture. Talk about the behaviors you want to see." This is a practical tip for leaders trying to influence cultural change.
  13. "Subcultures are the essence of organizational diversity and the seeds of organizational adaptation." He saw subcultures not as a problem, but as a potential source of strength and innovation.

On Humble Inquiry

  1. "Humble Inquiry is the fine art of drawing someone out, of asking questions to which you do not already know the answer, of building a relationship based on curiosity and interest in the other person." - Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling.
  2. "Telling puts the other person down. It implies that the other person does not know what you know... Asking, on the other hand, empowers the other person." - Humble Inquiry.
  3. "The key to Humble Inquiry is to be genuinely curious." It cannot be a manipulative technique; it must be authentic.
  4. "We are biased toward telling instead of asking because we live in a culture that values task accomplishment over relationship building." - Humble Inquiry.
  5. "Humble Inquiry maximizes my ignorance and my curiosity, and it minimizes bias and preconception on my part." - Humble Inquiry.
  6. "What is needed is a shift in mindset from 'I know' to 'I wonder.'"
  7. "The opposite of Humble Inquiry is leading questions or telling in the form of a question, such as 'Don't you think that...?'"
  8. There are three forms of inquiry: Humble Inquiry (maximizing curiosity), Diagnostic Inquiry (focusing on the other's story), and Confrontational Inquiry (inserting your own ideas). - Humble Inquiry.
  9. "Building a relationship of trust is more important than the immediate task." This is a core belief underpinning his philosophy.

On Helping, Consulting, and Change

  1. "Process Consultation is a philosophy of helping... The central belief of the PC philosophy is that a human system... can only be helped to help itself." - Process Consultation Revisited.
  2. "Never offer advice that the client has not asked for." This is a cardinal rule of his helping philosophy.
  3. "The client owns the problem. My job is to create a process that will help the client solve it." - This distinguishes process consultation from the "expert" or "doctor" models of consulting.
  4. "Change always starts with some form of pain or dissatisfaction." - Organizational Culture and Leadership.
  5. "All change is a process of unfreezing, changing, and refreezing." - He built upon Kurt Lewin's foundational model of change.
  6. "Learning anxiety—the fear of trying something new—is the fundamental reason for resistance to change." To overcome it, leaders must create psychological safety.
  7. "Psychological safety is the key to creating a learning organization." Without it, people will not admit mistakes or ask for help.
  8. "The most effective way to manage change is to create a situation in which the people who need to change feel that they are in control of the process."
  9. "Humble Consulting is about creating a relationship with the client that is helpful from the very first contact." - Humble Consulting.
  10. "The expert role is a dangerous trap. It prevents you from seeing the reality of the client's situation."

On Leadership

  1. "Leadership is the ability to step outside the culture... to start evolutionary change processes that are more adaptive." - Organizational Culture and Leadership.
  2. "The leaders of the future will be those who are the best at learning."
  3. "Leadership and culture are two sides of the same coin." - Organizational Culture and Leadership. You cannot understand one without the other.
  4. "Orchestrating cultural change is the ultimate leadership challenge."
  5. "The most important leadership skill is the ability to see the world through the eyes of others." This connects directly to his ideas on Humble Inquiry.
  6. "A leader's role is to manage the anxiety of change."
  7. "Arrogance is the enemy of learning." He often contrasted leadership arrogance with the humility required to see the truth.

On Career Anchors

  1. "A career anchor is that one thing a person would not give up if forced to make a choice." - Career Anchors: The Changing Nature of Work and Careers.
  2. "Your career anchor is your self-concept, consisting of your talents and abilities, your basic values, and your sense of motives and needs as they pertain to your career." - Career Anchors.
  3. The Eight Career Anchors: Technical/Functional Competence, General Managerial Competence, Autonomy/Independence, Security/Stability, Entrepreneurial Creativity, Service/Dedication to a Cause, Pure Challenge, and Lifestyle. This framework helps individuals understand their core career drivers.
  4. "You will not be happy or successful in your career unless you understand your career anchor."
  5. "Most career crises are the result of a mismatch between a person's career anchor and their work environment."

On Communication and Relationships

  1. "The most important part of communication is listening."
  2. "Every interaction is an opportunity to either build or undermine a relationship."
  3. "Trust is the foundation of all effective communication and collaboration."
  4. "We live in a world of reciprocal relationships. If you want someone to be open with you, you must first be open with them."
  5. "The here-and-now is the most important source of data about what is really going on in a human system." This is a key principle for consultants and leaders—pay attention to the immediate dynamics.
  6. "The paradox of being helpful is that the more you try to be helpful in a directive way, the less helpful you are."

For further exploration of Edgar Schein's work:

  • Books: His most influential books are essential reading. These include Organizational Culture and Leadership, Humble Inquiry, Humble Consulting, and Career Anchors. They are widely available from their respective publishers and major booksellers.
  • The Berrett-Koehler Publishers Author Page: This page often contains articles, blog posts, and resources related to his more recent work on "humble leadership." (Link)
  • Academic Articles: For a deeper dive, his articles in journals like the Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review provide concise insights into his evolving theories.