Perhaps the most compelling system for organizing our understanding of the various pieces of culture is provided by psychologist Edgar Schein, who argues that there are three levels of culture: Artifacts, Espoused Beliefs & Values, and Underlying Assumptions. 

Artifacts are the easiest culture elements to observe, as they lie at the surface level and include, as Schein says, "all the phenomena that one sees, hears and feels when one encounters a new group with an unfamiliar culture."² Schein goes on to caution that although artifacts are the easiest level of culture to observe, they are very difficult to decipher.  Just because you can see what is there, he says, doesn't mean that you know why it is there, and what meaning is intended. 

Here at the Institute, our approach is to look at the level of artifacts through the lens of maturity. Maturity signifies the degree of development of each of the respective cultural elements in relation to their potential or capacity.  When we talk about the human life cycle, we use the concept of maturity to signify a person’s physical, intellectual and emotional development in relation to the natural human end of full adulthood. Because the minds and bodies of adolescents and infants have not yet grown to their full potential, we label them immature – not fully developed. On the other hand, since most adults are fully grown, we say that they are mature – their development is for the most part complete. In much the same way, organizations can use the concept of maturity to signify the development of their respective cultures relative to the foundations of a fully developed organization.  Rather than lump all of the elements together, our research at the Institute suggests that a natural division into Social and Structural maturity makes the assessment process more intuitive.