MENTAL MODEL · M10132

Cultural Web

BusinessHigh supportManagement

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Updated 2026-08-22

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

The cultural web, developed by Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes, represents organizational culture as a set of interlocking elements arranged around a central paradigm: the stories people tell, the rituals and routines, the symbols, the power structure, the organizational structure, and the control systems. The core claim is that culture is held in place by the mutual reinforcement of these elements, so diagnosing them together shows why change attempts fail when they touch only one. The qualification is that the paradigm is the deepest and least visible layer, and a diagnosis that stops at visible symbols misses the assumptions that keep the elements aligned.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Map the elements: describe the current stories, rituals, symbols, power, structure, and controls. - Find the reinforcement: identify which elements hold the existing paradigm in place. - Design the new web: specify how each element should look under the intended culture.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Culture persists not because people believe in it abstractly but because the visible elements keep producing the same signals: rituals reward certain behavior, structures place authority in certain hands, and controls measure certain outcomes. Each element independently supports the paradigm, so changing one leaves the others to restore the previous state. Mapping the web shows where a change would be absorbed and where it would propagate. The paradigm itself is rarely articulated, which is why it must be inferred from the elements rather than asked about directly.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Practice this model in one real situation:

Describe the current stories, rituals, symbols, power structures, structures, and control systems. 2. Identify which elements reinforce the existing paradigm most strongly. 3. Describe how each element would look under the culture you want. 4. Change the reinforcing elements together rather than the most visible ones alone.

Check to track your progress (stored locally)

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Source support: Explicit

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en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploring_Corporate_StrategyZH · Explicit
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