Relating the cultural iceberg to organisations and information warfare

The Iceberg as initially proposed by Schein is often used when considering organizational culture and to try to understand what leads to visible behaviors and actions through surfacing the assumptions, values and beliefs that led to the selection of strategies, goals etc. When considering C2 in a contested environment, decision-making should never take place without fully understanding the context within which the decisions are being made. From all that is observable, we select those aspects that interest us and interpret them in our personal context and give them meaning accordingly. We will draw conclusions having applied our existing assumptions, frequently without acknowledging them, and develop beliefs based on these conclusions. Finally, we take actions that seem right in our context. The actions we may take will be from our personal repertoire according to the means available to us, the strength of our drive (motivation), and any constraints or restraints imposed on us. However, we need to see the ‘other’ by standing in their shoes and seek to understand their beliefs, values, motivations, and drives. We need to understand the impact of their organizational structures and technology on their courses of action. However, we also need to recognize they are doing the same to us, so we also need to look within to assess as best as possible those actions being taken against us to influence our beliefs, values, motivations, structures, and technological enablers. Finally, we explore what the impact on organization and C2 approaches and the challenges that need to be addressed. This is the critical understanding we need to achieve success.