When assessments work properly, the medium becomes the message and becomes self-sustaining. Assessments train and habituate organizations in continuing non-defensive self-criticism. The higher levels of maturity in assessment methodology represent nothing more than institutionalized and ongoing self-analysis. Assessments cannot work in a blame culture; therefore, for an intense moment, they condition the members of an organization to think about the pros and cons of what they do in a non-threatening way. Assessments also change people’s perspective on their immediate environment and on the larger environment in which they work, and these new perspectives have a way of becoming self-perpetuating. Finally, assessments require senior management to become actively involved in the improvement process, and this involvement almost always lasts beyond the end of the assessment.