Thought Spark: Culture Is the Invisible Code That Leadership Must Learn to Read




Aligning Leadership Ecosystems with the 90/10 Culture Iceberg

“Culture is not a line in your handbook. It’s the quiet system shaping everything.”
— Dr. Shannon S. Jennings



In a beautifully written and deeply resonant article, Dr. Shannon Jennings shares a bold truth:

 90% of your culture is invisible — and it’s running the show.

Read the original article here:


At Digital Foundry 360, we couldn’t agree more. As we design adaptive leadership ecosystems for the age of Agentic AI, we’ve come to realize something simple but powerful:

Leadership practices above the waterline mean little without understanding the cultural currents below.


🔍 Why This Matters Now

Many leadership frameworks focus on competencies like communication, learning agility, or strategy execution. Yet, as Dr. Jennings shows us, what truly drives human behavior sits beneath the surface:

Anthropology → the stories we carry

Sociology → the power dynamics and group identity

Psychology → the emotional climate and sense of belonging

Communication → the meaning we co-create in silence as much as speech


These invisible forces shape trust, alignment, and performance. And they are often left unexplored.


🧊 The 90/10 Iceberg of Culture and Leadership

To explore this intersection, we created a visual bridge between Dr. Jennings’ cultural iceberg and DF360’s leadership ecosystem:

📌 The top 10%: Visible leadership practices like AI integration, storytelling competence, and leadership flow.
🌊 The hidden 90%: Cultural disciplines shaping behavior, identity, and meaning.

Communication, we believe, is the connective tissue — the current that flows between what is practiced and what is felt.

> We must lead not just with intelligence — but with cultural fluency.


🌱 Invitation to Reflect

How much of your leadership strategy engages with the 90% below the waterline?

Are your rituals, power structures, and emotional tone aligned with your stated values?

Could your organization navigate uncertainty more wisely if culture was treated as a living system, not a static asset?

🌀 Final Note

At DF360, we are learning that agentic leadership in the AI era must be culturally attuned. We're grateful to voices like Dr. Shannon Jennings who help us see the deeper truths — and remind us to lead not only with innovation, but with wisdom.

Let this be your invitation to slow down, sense what’s unspoken, and lead from below the waterline.

At DF360, we are not just building smarter workflows—we're designing learning ecosystems where purpose, performance, and foresight converge. 

"The future will not reward the most efficient—it will reward the most adaptive.”

Digital Foundry 360
Thriving in the Agentic Era

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