09 Mar 2026

IM BLOG: Peeling Back the Organisational Onion

Why Information Culture Matters More Than You Think

Walk into almost any organisation and you’ll see the surface shine: mission statements in reception, value posters on the walls, maybe even a glossy campaign declaring Information is our greatest asset.

But these surface artefacts rarely tell you how information is really treated. Culture runs deeper. Like an onion, organisations have layers:

Artefacts - the visible signs.
Values - the stated beliefs.
Core assumptions - the hidden rules about hierarchy, risk and collaboration that drive day-to-day behaviour.

It’s those hidden assumptions - the core of the onion - that determine whether information is protected, shared, and used strategically, or whether it’s hoarded, neglected and left to become a liability.

Healthy vs Unhealthy Information Cultures

A healthy information culture treats information as a shared and strategic asset. Leaders model the right behaviours. Systems make it easier to do the right thing than to cut corners. Collaboration flows naturally because staff know information belongs to the organisation, not to them personally. Decisions are quicker, risks are lower and innovation thrives.

An unhealthy culture on the other hand, tells a different story. Information is treated as a burden. Staff stash files on desktops, create shadow IT systems, trade and hoard information like currency. Compliance feels punitive, not supportive. When a breach or audit happens, blame is louder than learning. Silos grow, trust erodes and opportunities are lost.

A Tale of Two Layers

Consider this scenario: an organisation proudly promotes Collaboration as a core value. Posters proclaim it. Leaders reference it. Yet when research teams are asked to share findings, they hesitate. Why? Because the unspoken rule is that knowledge equals power - and sharing it means losing control.

The artefact said Collaboration. The assumption whispered Self-preservation.

This is the danger of staying at the surface. Real culture change doesn’t happen with new posters or policies. It happens when organisations confront the hidden rules at the core of the onion.

Seven Lenses to See Your IM Culture Clearly

Peeling back the onion requires more than one perspective. Here are seven lenses to assess your information culture:

Leadership and Tone from the Top - are leaders framing information as a compliance burden or as a strategic enabler of trust, service and innovation?
Values and Attitudes - do staff see information as shared knowledge or as something to be hoarded for personal advantage?
Behaviours and Practices - are systems used as intended or do workarounds and shadow IT quietly dominate?
Compliance and Risk - is compliance embedded and seamless or reactive and fear-driven?
Learning and Adaptability - does the organisation learn from breaches and adopt new tech or default to we’ve always done it this way?
Outcomes - are the results efficiency, innovation and savings or wasted time, duplication and fines?
Core Assumptions - are the unspoken rules failure is punished and managers know best or we succeed together and we learn from mistakes?

Why It Matters

The costs of ignoring culture are real:

IDC research shows knowledge workers lose 2.5 hours every day searching for information. For a 1,000-person organisation on average salaries of $80k, that’s $26 million in lost productivity every year.
The average Australian data breach costs $7.3 million (IBM 2024). Keeping unnecessary data only increases exposure.
The Privacy Act now allows fines up to $50 million or 30% of turnover for serious breaches.

But the benefits of a healthy IM culture go beyond avoiding costs. They include faster decisions, stronger collaboration and greater innovation. Culture is the difference between treating information as baggage and treating it as the organisation’s lifeblood.

Building a Healthier Onion

So how do organisations strengthen their IM culture? Not by writing new slogans, but by:

Leaders modelling positive information behaviours.
Embedding retention and disposal schedules into systems so compliance happens automatically.
Rewarding collaboration and openness, not punishing failure.
Framing information as an enabler of strategy, service and trust.

Change happens when the deep assumptions shift - when staff no longer ask Will I get into trouble if I share this? but instead ask How will sharing this help the organisation succeed?

The organisational onion reminds us that what we see on the surface rarely tells the full story. Posters, policies and values statements matter - but the hidden assumptions matter more.

A healthy IM culture doesn’t emerge by accident. It takes leadership, persistence and the courage to peel back the layers and deal with what lies at the core.

Because in the end, information isn’t just stuff to be filed away. It’s the connective tissue of the organisation. Treat it well and it drives trust, resilience and innovation. Treat it poorly and the organisation will pay the price - in dollars, in reputation and in missed opportunities.

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