Lexicon: Weltanschauung

The Etymology

From the German Welt ("world") + Anschauung ("view" or "perception"). Literally: "World-View."

The Definition

A Weltanschauung is deeper than an "opinion" or an "ideology." It is the fundamental cognitive lens through which an individual or a group perceives reality. It is the unwritten software running in the background of your brain that interprets every piece of data you receive.

Philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey described it as an intuition of the world. It answers the questions you didn't even know you were asking.

• Example: A medieval peasant had a religious Weltanschauung (everything is God's will). A modern scientist has a materialist Weltanschauung (everything is atoms and physics). They can look at the same sunset and see two completely different realities.

The Corporate Application

Companies love "Mission Statements" and "Values." These are usually posters on a wall. Great companies have a Weltanschauung.

• Apple under Jobs: Their Weltanschauung was that technology should be an extension of the liberal arts—beautiful, intuitive, and human. Every decision, from the curve of the mouse to the packaging of the box, was filtered through this lens.
• The Disconnected Corp: Most companies fail because their departments have conflicting Weltanschauungs. Engineering sees the world as "Code to be optimized," Sales sees the world as "Quotas to be hit," and Design sees the world as "Art to be protected."

The role of the CEO is not to write the mission statement. It is to unify the Weltanschauung. When everyone sees the world through the same lens, you don't need to micromanage decisions.