Most culture theory was built in the 1950s and 1960s, when organizations looked more like factories than Slack channels. Edgar Schein’s classic framework still shapes how leaders talk about organizational culture—but we’re no longer in the age of smokestacks. We’re in the digital era, where burnout is rising, remote work blurs boundaries, and culture lives in chat threads as much as conference rooms. This article investigates why outdated models fail today’s workplaces, the hidden environmental costs of old frameworks, and what a truly modern, sustainable culture must look like in the information age.

Comfort fit is not culture fit. Too often, organizations confuse hiring or promoting people who “feel familiar” with building a strong culture. That’s affinity bias at work—and while it feels safe, it quietly limits diversity, innovation, and long-term growth. True culture fit isn’t about sameness, it’s about alignment with purpose and values. Learn how to spot comfort fit, avoid affinity bias, and build a culture that thrives on inclusion, innovation, and resilience.

Summer camp is more than cabins and campfires—it’s one of the most effective culture-building systems around. This post breaks down how the rituals, symbols, and shared language of camp offer powerful lessons for designing organizational culture through artifacts that drive belonging, behavior, and identity.

Manufacturing leaders are rethinking traditional hierarchies as industry disruption demands faster, more adaptive ways of working. This article explores how John Kotter’s Dual Operating System offers a blueprint for combining structure with cultural agility—empowering manufacturers to compete through community, not just control. Learn why culture is no longer a soft skill, but a strategic lever for modern manufacturing success.

American Eagle’s latest “great jeans” ad with Sydney Sweeney is drawing backlash—and not just for bad puns. In this breakdown, we examine the deeper organizational culture issues behind tone-deaf branding decisions. Learn how psychological safety, decision-making systems, and brand misalignment are shaping what we see on screen—and what it reveals behind the scenes.

Conflict avoidance might feel like keeping the peace, but it comes at a steep cost. From lost innovation to eroded trust, unresolved tensions undermine team performance and psychological safety. This article explores the hidden impact of avoiding conflict at work—and offers five actionable, research-backed strategies to clear the air with clarity and care. Perfect for HR leaders, managers, and culture shapers who want to build stronger, more honest teams.

Culture isn’t just a feel-good initiative—it’s a business health metric. This article reframes workplace culture as a strategic asset, not a perk, and explores how aligning culture with business priorities drives measurable outcomes. Discover how to treat culture like a performance portfolio and start investing in what really moves the needle.

You don’t need stock options to build a culture of ownership.

That “special something” you feel inside employee-owned companies? It’s not magic. It’s clarity. It’s trust. It’s voice. And yes—while ESOPs are built for it, any organization can create the conditions for people to show up like owners.

Because when people feel like it’s theirs, they act like it matters.

In this post, I unpack four cultural practices that spark psychological ownership—backed by research, brought to life with real company examples, and entirely doable even if you never go employee-owned.

Spoiler: it starts with transparency. But it doesn’t end there.

When decisions shift after the meeting ends, trust erodes fast.
This post explores the quiet culture killer known as the meeting after the meeting, where real decisions happen in private, leaving teams confused, disengaged, and frustrated. Learn why it happens, how to spot it, and what healthy organizations do to create clarity, accountability, and true collaboration.

Everyone’s shouting about the “future of HR.” AI! Gen Z! People analytics! But Organizational Development? It’s already been quietly doing the work, aligning systems, building leaders, and making culture actually livable.

This isn’t a trend forecast. It’s a love letter to the discipline that makes the future functional.

“We just need to get through this quarter.”

That’s what leadership said. Right before the layoffs.
Right before the restructuring. Right before the new software rollout, the office redesign, and the culture refresh. By the time the third “just one more change” hit, the team stopped listening. Not because they didn’t care. Because they couldn’t afford to anymore.

We’ve all been there.

A meeting kicks off with talk of values, norms, or “how we want to work”—and before long, you’re stuck in a loop. The same themes resurface. Someone starts venting. Nothing gets decided. Everyone leaves a little more tired.

That’s not a failure. It’s a signal.

Culture conversations tend to spiral because they’re loaded with meaning, emotion, and history. Beneath the surface, we’re not just talking about policies—we’re navigating identity, safety, and power.

This piece unpacks why these conversations get stuck, what leaders often miss, and how to reset the room when dialogue starts circling without direction. With insights from Edgar Schein, Adam Grant, Kim Scott, and Peter Block, we explore how to move from spiraling talk to actionable clarity—without steamrolling the complexity that makes culture so vital.

Giving feedback to executive leaders isn’t about PowerPoints, it’s about precision. In this post, we explore how to deliver tough, necessary feedback to busy execs in a way that cuts through noise, builds trust, and sparks change. If you're ready to move beyond polite silence and into real cultural impact, this one's for you.

Resistance in the workplace isn’t always loud or obvious—sometimes it hides behind repeated “I don’t understand,” constant delays, or an endless stream of clarifying questions. In organizational change and culture work, recognizing these subtle forms of resistance is critical. Based on Peter Block’s Flawless Consulting, this post breaks down common resistance behaviors, what they really mean, and how to respond effectively. If you’re a leader, consultant, or HR pro working on organizational development or culture transformation, understanding resistance is essential to making your change efforts stick.

After being the poster child of ironic company core values for many years, Boeing is trying to write a new story. And they’re starting with some familiar words: Integrity. Safety. Quality. Inclusion. Transparency. On paper? Flawless. In practice? We’ll see.

We’ve trained leaders to deliver feedback like pros—but forgot to teach them how to take it. Receiving feedback is one of the most underdeveloped leadership skills out there. It’s not just about listening—it’s about holding space for discomfort, ego, and growth. Because in a strong culture, feedback isn’t a one-way street. It’s the lifeblood of real leadership.

Growth is a milestone—but it’s also a turning point. As small businesses scale, what once made them special can quickly become their Achilles' heel. Organizational development isn’t a luxury—it’s the strategic blueprint that keeps your culture strong, your people aligned, and your momentum sustainable.

Symbols aren’t just surface-level—they’re cultural loudspeakers. From the breakroom posters to the emojis in your company-wide Slack, everything sends a message. If you’re not actively shaping what your symbols say, they’re shaping your culture without you. And in today’s polarized, hyper-visible world? That’s a risk you can’t afford to ignore.

A staggering 30% of employees say hostility at work is on the rise. The message is clear: companies can’t afford to ignore the emotional undercurrent of their cultures anymore.

Work is weird. It’s weird that we’re expected to professionally navigate behavior that would send anyone running in a social setting. It’s weird that some companies would rather keep a high-performing bully than an entire team suffering in silence. And it’s weird that “just be direct” is somehow radical advice in so many workplaces.

Alison Green, through Ask a Manager, has been making sense of this weirdness for years—turning chaos into clarity, giving people permission to set boundaries, and proving that workplace culture isn’t just policies, it’s how people experience their jobs every day.

This is a love letter to the workplace whisperer who helped shape my obsession with organizational culture—and why her insights still matter more than ever.