Assumption Quote by Grant David McCracken
“Most change initiatives either fail or fall far short of original expectations. More often than not, resistance is cultural in nature but the real cause of lots of resistance often is that however much a team might say that it wants to change, the old assumptions are woven, invisibly, deep within the corporate culture, and from this staging ground they act invisibly to sustain the old order. Finding the assumption out and then rooting them out is a special skill. It calls for assumption hunters, I call them.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Culture Map by Erin Meyer, 2014 (cited in management literature)
Organizational resistance stems from deep‑seated cultural assumptions that persist unnoticed, requiring deliberate uncovering and removal.
In simple terms: Hidden assumptions block change.
Key Takeaway
Identify and challenge hidden assumptions.
Themes
change management
culture
assumptions
leadership
Mood
reflective
strategic
Type
analysis
advisory
When to use this quote
- merger integrations
- process redesign
- new technology adoption
Key Concepts
organizational behavior
psychology
systems thinking
Questions to Reflect On
- What assumptions underlie our current practices?
- How can we surface invisible cultural norms?
A Different Perspective
Changing assumptions can be slow and meet covert pushback.
![“Companies have to nurture [creativity and motivation]-and have to do it by building a compassionate yet performance-driven corporate culture. In the knowledge economy the traditional soft people side of our business has become the new hard side.” quote by Gay Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0c7/gay-mitchell-107727_building_companies-have-to-nurture-creativity-and_140626.jpg)
