(1) The iceberg metaphor originates from French, WL and Bell, CH 1984 Organization Development: Behavioural Science Interventions for Organization Improvement, Third Edition, Prentice Hall International, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.


The above-the-waterline part represents the more tangible, explicit aspects of the organisation, such as structures, plans, policies, performance agreements and formal business processes.

The below-the-waterline component reflects the hidden or implicit aspects of the organisation. These aspects include such things as the informal rules that govern communications, undiscussable issues, and the deep assumptions and beliefs that shape the culture of the organisation.

Many organisations make the mistake of focusing their change and improvement efforts only on the visible, above-the-waterline aspects. The folly of such an approach can be seen in research findings in Australia and elsewhere that the majority of change efforts fail to achieve their objectives.

The subtler aspects are often seen as just too difficult to manage or perhaps too threatening. While some organisations attempt to deal with these hidden or implicit aspects - such as people's aspirations -the efforts are often token. Without external assistance, organisations commonly lack the skills and supportive infrastructure to really engage with the sensitivities involved. The result is often cynicism and scepticism by staff, who see a mismatch between what the organisation says it values and what appears to be valued in practice.

The key is for the organisation to work towards integrating the more tangible and more subtle aspects, i.e. the visible and hidden parts of the iceberg. Commonly, this involves a continued (perhaps modified) focus on the explicit aspects coupled with greater attention to the hidden dimension.

Developing the hidden side requires that the organisation work towards creating the conditions for greater openness - in which it becomes standard practice for people to speak up about difficult issues, for differences of view to be valued and reconciled, for assumptions to be challenged, and for reflection as well as action to be encouraged.

While there are no quick fixes in developing the hidden side of an organisation, the potential dividends in creating a more dynamic and performance-focused culture are high.

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