When we observe a culture, whether in an organization or in society at large, we are observing an evolved form of social practice that has been influenced by many complex interactions between people, events, situations, actions, and general circumstance. Culture is self-organizing and is always evolving. Although at any given time it can be seen as having a discernible pattern(e.g., reflecting an ethos of competition or cooperation) this pattern tends to be a snapshot abstraction imposed on the culture from the outside. It is a pattern that helps the observer to make sense of what is happening in the culture. But it is not synonymous with experience in the culture itself. Recall, for example, Western interpretations versus Japanese experience of hierarchical relationships. From the Western standpoint, Japanese hierarchy may be seen as a pattern of domination. Internally, it may be experienced as a process of mutual service.