1. Knowledge: Factual and experiential information accumulated by an individual in a specific field, such as professional skills and industry knowledge.
2. Skills: The ability to use knowledge in a structured way to complete specific tasks, such as communication skills and project management skills.
3. Abilities: Potential behavioral qualities, such as learning ability, stress resistance, and innovative thinking.
4. Values: Fundamental cognition and beliefs about value orientation (e.g., integrity, innovation, family priority).
5. Personality: Stable personality response patterns, such as extroversion or caution, affecting long-term work performance.
6. Motivation: Deep-seated drives of behavior, including achievement motivation, power motivation, and affiliation motivation. These elements are often difficult to detect but play a decisive role in long-term behavior.

1. Surface: Behavior and Results (Visible Behavior)
Directly observable external manifestations, such as language, actions, and data results (e.g., sales figures, number of tardies). Acts as an entry point to problems, guiding further analysis.
2. Middle: Coping Patterns and Abilities (Underlying Patterns)
Hidden behavioral logic and ability shortcomings, including emotional reactions (e.g., anxiety, anger), coping strategies (e.g., avoidance, appeasement), and skill deficiencies (e.g., lack of communication skills). Connects the surface and deep layers, explaining "why such behavior occurs."
3. Deep: Motivation and Values (Core Drivers)
Fundamental drivers of behavior, including intrinsic needs (e.g., sense of achievement, sense of security), core values (e.g., integrity, innovation), and subconscious beliefs (e.g., "I don't deserve success"). The deep level is where the root causes of problems are found, allowing for the formulation of long-term effective solutions.

1. Career Development
Individual: Analyze career bottlenecks, identify skill gaps (e.g., communication) and deep motivations (e.g., pursuit of achievement), and match more suitable positions.
Team: Diagnose reasons for inefficiency, distinguish surface conflicts (e.g., task delays) from value conflicts (e.g., innovation priority vs. risk avoidance), and optimize collaboration models.
2. Business Decision-Making
Market Insight: Explore deep needs behind consumer behavior (e.g., buying luxury goods for identity recognition, not just practicality).
Risk Management: Anticipate potential crises (e.g., employee turnover possibly stemming from a mismatch between corporate culture and personal values) and intervene early.
3. Educational Psychology
Family Education: Understand the emotional needs (e.g., desire for respect) behind children's rebellious behavior (e.g., contradicting parents), rather than simply punishing.

1. Identify Surface Phenomena: Clarify the most direct manifestations of the problem (e.g., performance decline, employee turnover) using data or behavior descriptions (e.g., "sales dropped 20% for three consecutive months").
2. Explore Middle Patterns: Ask "why" and deconstruct the logic behind behavior (e.g., "customer loss due to slow service response"), ability gaps (e.g., "customer service lacks problem-solving training"), or process defects (e.g., "chaotic order allocation").
3. Trace Deep Motivations: Find the fundamental drivers of the problem (e.g., "team silence due to a culture of fear of making mistakes," "user resistance due to a mismatch between product goals and needs"), which may involve values, organizational design, or implicit rules.

The core difference between the Iceberg Model and the Competency Onion Model is that the Iceberg Model is a theoretical framework describing the stratified structure of individual qualities, while the Competency Onion Model is a capability assessment tool built on theories like the Iceberg Model, targeted at specific positions.
The Iceberg Model is mostly used for theoretical research and talent development guidance; the Competency Onion Model is directly used in practical aspects such as corporate talent selection and performance evaluation.