--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Soon I began to realize that cultural…" description: "\"“Soon I began to realize that cultural camouflage also obscured the universality of emotional process in institutions. For example, frequently, the lea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/edwin-h-friedman-25568_data-collection_soon-i-began-to-realize-that-cultural-ca_3177212.jpg" --- # Soon I began to realize that cultural camouflage also… ![“Soon I began to realize that cultural camouflage also obscured the universality of emotional process in institutions. For example, frequently, the leaders of a church would come to me seeking techniques for dealing with a member of the staff or a member of the congregation who was acting…” quote by Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/edwin-h-friedman-25568_data-collection_soon-i-began-to-realize-that-cultural-ca_3177212.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/edwin-h-friedman-25568_data-collection_soon-i-began-to-realize-that-cultural-ca_3177212.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bf6/edwin-h-friedman-25568_data-collection_soon-i-began-to-realize-that-cultural-ca_3177212.jpg) > ““Soon I began to realize that cultural camouflage also obscured the universality of emotional process in institutions. For example, frequently, the leaders of a church would come to me seeking techniques for dealing with a member of the staff or a member of the congregation who was acting obstreperously, who was ornery, and who intimidated everyone with his gruffness. I might say to them, “This is not a matter of technique; it’s a matter of taking a stand, telling this person he has to shape up or he cannot continue to remain a member of the community.” And the church leaders would respond, “But that’s not the Christian thing to do.” (Synagogue leaders also tolerate abusers for the same reason.) Overall, this long-range perspective brought me to the point of wondering if there were not some unwitting conspiracy within society itself to avoid recognizing the emotional variables that, for all their lack of concreteness, are far more influential in their effects on institutions than the more obvious data that society loves to measure. Perhaps data collection serves as a way of avoiding the emotional variables. After all, the denial of emotional process is evident in society at large. If, for example, we succeed in reducing the number of cigarettes smoked by our nation’s youth but do nothing to reduce the level of chronic anxiety throughout the nation, then the addiction will just take another form, and the same children who were vulnerable to one kind of addiction will become easy prey for the as-yet unimagined new temptation. It”” [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Institutions hide emotional factors behind data, allowing harmful behavior to persist unchecked. **In simple terms:** Emotions are ignored, so problems stay hidden. Key Takeaway Address emotional realities directly. Themes institutional behavior emotional intelligence data reliance power dynamics Mood reflective critical Type analytical observational When to use this quote - church leadership meetings - human resources policy - public health campaigns Key Concepts psychology sociology organizational theory Questions to Reflect On - How can leaders balance data with emotional insight? - What steps reveal hidden emotional dynamics? A Different Perspective Emotional factors are hard to measure and may be uncomfortable to confront. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Avoiding Emotional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avoiding-emotional-1677300/) [Data collection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data-collection/) [Denial Emotional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/denial-emotional-5806789/) [Emotional Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotional-process-1321321/) [Emotional Variables](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotional-variables-5806788/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Taking a stand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taking-a-stand/) [Universality Emotional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universality-emotional-5806787/) ## Related quotes > [“Explaining families and institutions in terms of the nature of their parts, I began to think, was like trying to reduce chemistry to physics.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/explaining-families-and-institutions-in-terms-of-the-nature-of-their/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“Although the social science construction of reality tends to emphasize how families differ from one another, I began to see that knowledge of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/although-the-social-science-construction-of-reality-tends-to/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“It may be in the ubiquitous phenomenon of terrorism that one can most easily see how universal emotional processes transcend the conventional categories of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/it-may-be-in-the-ubiquitous-phenomenon-of-terrorism-that-one-can-most/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“In any bare-knuckle bargaining session, the most vital principle to keep in mind is never to look at your counterpart as an enemy. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-voss/in-any-bare-knuckle-bargaining-session-the-most-vital-principle-to/) [Chris Voss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-voss/) > [A lot of problems stem from a desire to avoid discomfort. For example, people who fear failure often avoid new challenges in an effort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-morin/a-lot-of-problems-stem-from-a-desire-to-avoid-discomfort-for-example/) [Amy Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-morin/) > [Learning about yourself can be a hugely emotional process, but if you approach it with honesty, you will find it cleansing and therapeutic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senora-roy/learning-about-yourself-can-be-a-hugely-emotional-process-but-if-you/) [Senora Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senora-roy/) > [Writing is very much an emotional process; it requires you to be very in touch with your feelings. That is the opposite of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-gerritsen/writing-is-very-much-an-emotional-process-it-requires-you-to-be-very/) [Tess Gerritsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-gerritsen/) > [Jury selection is strictly an emotional process. They're looking for people they can manipulate. Both sides are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wambaugh/jury-selection-is-strictly-an-emotional-process-they-re-looking-for/) [Joseph Wambaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wambaugh/) > [A film is a process of thinking that is not opposed to an emotional process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucrecia-martel/a-film-is-a-process-of-thinking-that-is-not-opposed-to-an-emotional/) [Lucrecia Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucrecia-martel/) > [With data collection, 'the sooner the better' is always the best answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-mayer/with-data-collection-the-sooner-the-better-is-always-the-best-answer/) [Marissa Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-mayer/) > [“much of the data collection conducted by the NSA has manifestly nothing to do with terrorism or national security. Intercepting the communications of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-greenwald/much-of-the-data-collection-conducted-by-the-nsa-has-manifestly/) [Glenn Greenwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-greenwald/) > [Companies that rely on licensing a proprietary dataset should expect to be outpaced by competitors using modern data collection techniques and more frequent updates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mason/companies-that-rely-on-licensing-a-proprietary-dataset-should-expect/) [Hilary Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mason/) > [“There needs to be time for efficient data collection and time for inefficient contemplation, time to operate the machine and time to sit idly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/there-needs-to-be-time-for-efficient-data-collection-and-time-for/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [Opponents of civil liberties contend the NSA data collection has made our country more safe, but even the most vocal defenders of the program…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/opponents-of-civil-liberties-contend-the-nsa-data-collection-has-made/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [“What the ethnographer is in fact faced with—except when (as, of course, he must do) he is pursuing the more automatized routines of data…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/what-the-ethnographer-is-in-fact-faced-with-except-when-as-of-course/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) ## More by Edwin H. Friedman > [“It may be in the ubiquitous phenomenon of terrorism that one can most easily see how universal emotional processes transcend the conventional categories of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/it-may-be-in-the-ubiquitous-phenomenon-of-terrorism-that-one-can-most/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“The more my perspective broadened, the more confirmed I became in my view that contemporary leadership dilemmas have less to do with the specificity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/the-more-my-perspective-broadened-the-more-confirmed-i-became-in-my/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“I will begin by describing the nature of an emotional regression and showing how in any society, no matter how advanced its state of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/i-will-begin-by-describing-the-nature-of-an-emotional-regression-and/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“By the term regression I mean to convey something far more profound than a mere loss of progress. Societal regression is about the perversion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/by-the-term-regression-i-mean-to-convey-something-far-more-profound/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“The colossal misunderstanding of our time is the assumption that insight will work with people who are unmotivated to change. Communication does not depend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/the-colossal-misunderstanding-of-our-time-is-the-assumption-that/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“The focus on “need fulfillment” that so often accompanies an emphasis on empathy leaves out the possibility that what another may really “need” (in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/the-focus-on-need-fulfillment-that-so-often-accompanies-an-emphasis/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“Although the social science construction of reality tends to emphasize how families differ from one another, I began to see that knowledge of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/although-the-social-science-construction-of-reality-tends-to/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“It was then, after my presentations to thirty-two generals, that I first began to see how similar the approach to leadership problems was throughout…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/it-was-then-after-my-presentations-to-thirty-two-generals-that-i/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“Those five characteristics are:    1. Reactivity: the vicious cycle of intense reactions of each member to events and to one another.    2. Herding: a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/those-five-characteristics-are-1-reactivity-the-vicious-cycle-of/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“Chronic anxiety is systemic; it is deeper and more embracing than community nervousness. Rather than something that resides within the psyche of each one,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/chronic-anxiety-is-systemic-it-is-deeper-and-more-embracing-than/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“the extent we function and grow within the context of our own souls (a lifetime project) and abet the emergence of our own selves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/the-extent-we-function-and-grow-within-the-context-of-our-own-souls-a/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“In 1970, an experiment was conducted in a French laboratory in which two organisms from the same species that had not developed immune systems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/in-1970-an-experiment-was-conducted-in-a-french-laboratory-in-which/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“The second attribute of imaginatively gridlocked relationship systems is a continual search for new answers to old questions rather than an effort to reframe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/the-second-attribute-of-imaginatively-gridlocked-relationship-systems/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“One of the most extraordinary examples of adaptation to immaturity in contemporary American society today is how the word abusive has replaced the words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/one-of-the-most-extraordinary-examples-of-adaptation-to-immaturity-in/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) > [“I want to stress that by well-differentiated leader I do not mean an autocrat who tells others what to do or orders them around,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman/i-want-to-stress-that-by-well-differentiated-leader-i-do-not-mean-an/) [Edwin H. Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) [Explore all 23 Edwin H. Friedman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman/) ## More Data collection quotes > [With data collection, 'the sooner the better' is always the best answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-mayer/with-data-collection-the-sooner-the-better-is-always-the-best-answer/) [Marissa Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-mayer/) > [“much of the data collection conducted by the NSA has manifestly nothing to do with terrorism or national security. Intercepting the communications of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-greenwald/much-of-the-data-collection-conducted-by-the-nsa-has-manifestly/) [Glenn Greenwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-greenwald/) > [Opponents of civil liberties contend the NSA data collection has made our country more safe, but even the most vocal defenders of the program…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/opponents-of-civil-liberties-contend-the-nsa-data-collection-has-made/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [Companies that rely on licensing a proprietary dataset should expect to be outpaced by competitors using modern data collection techniques and more frequent updates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mason/companies-that-rely-on-licensing-a-proprietary-dataset-should-expect/) [Hilary Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mason/) > [“What the ethnographer is in fact faced with—except when (as, of course, he must do) he is pursuing the more automatized routines of data…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-geertz/what-the-ethnographer-is-in-fact-faced-with-except-when-as-of-course/) [Clifford Geertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-geertz/) > [“There needs to be time for efficient data collection and time for inefficient contemplation, time to operate the machine and time to sit idly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/there-needs-to-be-time-for-efficient-data-collection-and-time-for/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [Data that is loved tends to survive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-bollacker/data-that-is-loved-tends-to-survive/) [Kurt Bollacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-bollacker/) > [I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians, and I'm not kidding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-varian/i-keep-saying-that-the-sexy-job-in-the-next-10-years-will-be/) [Hal Varian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-varian/) > [The real power of mass data collection lies in the hand-tailored algorithms capable of sifting, sorting, and identifying patterns within the data itself. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-manning/the-real-power-of-mass-data-collection-lies-in-the-hand-tailored/) [Chelsea Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-manning/) > [There's a large percentage of mobile phones that now have a camera that's with you a lot of the time, and there's a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rana-el-kaliouby/there-s-a-large-percentage-of-mobile-phones-that-now-have-a-camera/) [Rana el Kaliouby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rana-el-kaliouby/) > [The USA FREEDOM Act ends the NSA's unfettered data collection program once and for all, while at the same time preserving the government's ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/the-usa-freedom-act-ends-the-nsa-s-unfettered-data-collection-program/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [“But I’d worked in IT long enough to know: Hope is a terrible survival trait. My methods were data collection, comparisons of probabilities, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-i-d-worked-in-it-long-enough-to-know-hope-is-a-terrible-survival/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We're now going to develop the standards on transparency, data collection for police, but the whole goal is to fully integrate the police into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kasich/we-re-now-going-to-develop-the-standards-on-transparency-data/) [John Kasich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kasich/) > [The number of maternal deaths is significantly understated because of a lack of effective data collection both in the US and around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lim/the-number-of-maternal-deaths-is-significantly-understated-because-of/) [Robin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lim/) > [Data is the new science. Big Data holds the answers. Are you asking the right questions?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-p-gelsinger/data-is-the-new-science-big-data-holds-the-answers-are-you-asking-the/) [Patrick P. Gelsinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-p-gelsinger/) [Browse all 38 Data collection quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data-collection/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Soon I began to realize that cultural camouflage also obscured the universality of emotional process in institutions. For example, frequently, the leaders of a church would come to me seeking techniques for dealing with a member of the staff or a member of the congregation who was acting obstreperously, who was ornery, and who intimidated everyone with his gruffness. I might say to them, “This is not a matter of technique; it’s a matter of taking a stand, telling this person he has to shape up or he cannot continue to remain a member of the community.” And the church leaders would respond, “But that’s not the Christian thing to do.” (Synagogue leaders also tolerate abusers for the same reason.) Overall, this long-range perspective brought me to the point of wondering if there were not some unwitting conspiracy within society itself to avoid recognizing the emotional variables that, for all their lack of concreteness, are far more influential in their effects on institutions than the more obvious data that society loves to measure. Perhaps data collection serves as a way of avoiding the emotional variables. After all, the denial of emotional process is evident in society at large. If, for example, we succeed in reducing the number of cigarettes smoked by our nation’s youth but do nothing to reduce the level of chronic anxiety throughout the nation, then the addiction will just take another form, and the same children who were vulnerable to one kind of addiction will become easy prey for the as-yet unimagined new temptation. It”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edwin H. 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