The Iceberg-Model: A clear way to visualise culture

Culture can be compared to an iceberg with a visible tip and an invisible part underneath the water surface. The visible tip corresponds to the areas of culture we can see in the physical sense.

Which element would you assign to the visible, which to the invisible part of the iceberg?

None of the visible elements can ever make real sense without understanding the drivers behind them; and these are hidden on the bottom part of the iceberg. It is these invisible elements which are the underlying causes of what shows on the visible part. So, when thinking about culture, the bottom part of the iceberg will include things such as religious beliefs, rules of relationships, approach to the family, motivations, tolerance for change, attitudes to rules, communication styles, comfort with risk, the difference between public and private, gender differences and more.

A common example is the different understanding of gender roles, which may show in the reluctance of members of some cultures, especially of Muslim religion, to accept females in leading positions.

If we all have our own ‘Iceberg’

Perhaps we reach a still better understanding of the concept if we start by asking ourselves about what we believe our own cultural iceberg.

Please ask yourself the following questions:

• What does it mean for you when somebody you have an appointment with isn’t on time – is it disrespectful or just casual?
• If somebody tells you in a straightforward manner that you are mistaken – do you find it helpful or do you feel affronted?
• Small talk at the beginning of a meeting – is it important for you in order to establish a good atmosphere or is it just a necessary evil?

You will have probably noticed that it is difficult to answer these questions. There is no straightforward ‘true’ or ‘false’. What seems right to you isn’t necessarily right for somebody else who reads these questions.

The questions aim at our own values, attitudes, communication habits and mind sets. These are all elements our culture consists of and which we have internalised since birth.

Depending on our own culture, we will interpret other people’s visible behaviour differently: it may seem more or less strange, acceptable or unacceptable to us. Cross-cultural conflicts often arise not because what we actually see is different from our expectations, but because what we notice triggers something that deeply disturbs us on an emotional, subconscious level.

Do you remember the Iceberg model? Crosscultural conflict arises when two (or more) hidden bottom parts of the iceberg collide.