Culture Transformation
Naming the culture the strategy actually needed — and the parts already there.
A consumer goods company was launching a five-year transformation. Slides described the future culture in inspiring but interchangeable language. Below the top team, people were skeptical — not because they disagreed with the direction, but because they didn't recognize themselves in the description.
The situation
Ambitious strategy. Generic aspirational culture statements. A workforce quietly wondering which version of themselves the company was asking them to become.
The question we set out to answer
“What culture does this strategy actually require — and what parts of it does this company already have that leadership has stopped noticing?”
How the work was done
- 01
Ran the Cultural Profile across leadership and a stratified sample of the organization.
- 02
Contrasted the culture that the strategy required with the culture people actually experienced.
- 03
Identified three cultural strengths that were undervalued internally — the assets no one was talking about.
- 04
Reframed the change narrative around 'strengthening what already works' rather than 'becoming something new.'
What changed
The transformation program launched with an internal narrative people recognized. Change fatigue dropped. The specific behaviors the strategy required had somewhere to land.
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Executive team stopped debating culture in the abstract and started designing for specific behaviors.
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Employee sentiment on the change program moved from wary to constructive.
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The CEO said the culture conversation felt honest for the first time in years.
The principle behind the case
“Culture change is not about becoming a different company. It is about becoming a more coherent version of the one you already are.”