Culture Isn’t Just a Vibe
I’ve worked in “culture change” across organizations from 3 person start-ups to Fortune 200s, and it’s always so hard to articulate what it is and why it matters. In our Leadership Intensives, we often teach the concept of facts vs stories: facts are concrete, observable things that are happening outside in the world, and stories are the analysis we make up to explain those facts. Stories can be real or false, but the core point is their unobservable.
Organizational culture, then, is the amalgamation of stories. It’s the silent ways of working and unspoken norms that permeate how we interpret the work we do and how we do it. It affects how we make decisions, how we communicate, and how we prioritize.
But although it can be hard to pinpoint and define, culture matters. And the data backs it up:
Gallup estimates disengagement costs businesses 18% of salary per employee.
Turnover of a single frontline employee costs 30–50% of their salary.
Poor culture slows decision-making, causes rework, increases conflict, and drains managers’ time.
Burnout spreads quickly when systems are unclear.
But outside of the nerdy HR world, how do we explain what culture really is and why it matters?
People Problems are Culture Problems in Disguise
When we talk to leaders across industries, we hear similar things:
My managers are overwhelmed and burnt out, and can’t prioritize what really matters.
There isn’t alignment between teams or across levels.
Frontline staff are calling out frequently, or quitting within the first 90 days.
High performers leave because they don’t know what the future looks like for them.
There’s friction - whether between coworkers or different teams - and managers don’t know how to handle it.
A few people are consistently underperforming, and none of the existing tools are working for motivation.
These are patterns, and can show gaps in culture that go beyond the specific data points. Maybe executive leadership isn’t providing a clear vision and direction, leading managers to guess and overwork. Managers are held accountable to strict KPIs rather than their ability to coach and support their team. There aren’t consistent expectations, and therefore no accountability to meet those expectations.
I once worked with a CEO who consistently worked 16+ hour days, sending emails at all times of day. She set incredibly high standards, and prioritized some leaders over others. Over time, this led to overworking managers, a constant sense of urgency, competition between teams and a feeling of limited resources, and frontline employees who felt like there was a huge gap between the stated values and everyday behaviors.
Culture Problems ARE Fixable
It doesn’t have to be this way. The underlying challenges holding back organizations can be solved, though not with a simple silver bullet. Fixing requires:
Real data about what’s happening, not just anecdotes or assumptions. What are people at different levels actually experiencing? What are the behaviors at play?
Support and intervention at all levels, not just coaching for senior executives or a pizza party for frontline staff.
Consistent messaging and support around new behaviors and expectations.
Concrete, actionable tools for all levels of the organization to actually act differently.
Ongoing support and accountability in different forums, not just a one-off training.
Ongoing refinement and analysis that provides flexibility to assess what’s working, what’s not, and where the organization needs to pivot.
I’m really proud of the work we’ve been doing at Elevate Labs to create resources and tools for leaders in small and mid-size organizations to intentionally define and live the culture they want to have. We have some exciting products coming out soon, stay tuned!