We hear it all the time: “Culture is everyone’s responsibility.”
But let’s be honest. Most organizations still treat culture like a campaign that's managed by HR. Something you can wrap in a town hall, a set of values, or a glossy brand video.

Here’s the truth:
Culture isn’t a campaign. It’s the operating system that drives behavior, belonging, and brand.

And just like any operating system, if the code running underneath isn’t aligned, things start to glitch. People get confused, priorities compete, and progress stalls.

Let me show you what I mean.

When Culture Collides with Incentives: A Field Story

A few years ago, I was part of a consulting team brought into a global oil & gas company. The C-suite was deeply committed to creating a safety-first culture. They said all the right things about protecting workers, empowering employees to speak up, and making safety a core value across every site.

On paper, it looked great. The messaging was clear. The CEO had personally signed off on the initiative. We were excited to help them bring it to life.

But when we started visiting field sites and talking to production managers, a very different story emerged.

One manager told us plainly:

“If I shut down operations because of a safety concern, I lose a huge chunk of my bonus. We’re paid to keep production going.”

This wasn’t a matter of bad leadership or bad people. These managers wanted their teams to be safe. But the incentives told them something else, and in culture, incentives always win.

Despite all the right words at the top, the deeper system, the operating system, was sending a different signal. One that said: Production is king. Safety is a tagline.

Until that contradiction was resolved, real culture change wasn’t going to happen.

Culture Is the Code That Tells People How to Behave

That’s why I tell clients: You don’t fix culture. You cultivate it.
You look beneath the surface to understand the beliefs, behaviors, and expectations that drive how things actually get done.

Culture is how people answer questions like:

• “What gets rewarded around here?”

• “Is it safe to speak up?”

• “Will I get support if I take a risk?”

• “Do our values guide decisions or  are they just for marketing?”

If the answers don’t align with what you say your culture is, people won’t trust you. And when people don’t trust the culture, you get disengagement, turnover, missed goals, and stalled innovation.

The Operating System: Behavior, Belonging, and Brand

That oil & gas client helped me crystallize a lesson I now teach every leader:

Culture is the operating system that drives behavior, belonging, and brand.
If you want better business outcomes, you have to start by updating the system.

• Behavior is how your team acts day-to-day, not just what’s written in your handbook.

• Belonging determines whether your people feel seen, safe, and connected.

• Brand is what the outside world sees, and it’s only as strong as your internal reality.

If your systems, incentives, and leadership signals don’t align with your culture goals, you’re not leading culture. You’re decorating it.

Want to Make Culture Stick? Go Deeper.

At Culture Grove, I help leaders move past slogans and surface-level initiatives to build the kind of cultures that last, cultures rooted in trust, values, and action.

Sometimes that looks like a mini culture audit to identify where things are misaligned. Other times, it’s a full values refresh, executive strategy day, or leadership coaching. And sometimes, it starts with a single insight from the field—just like that oil & gas story—that changes everything.

Because real culture work doesn’t start in the C-suite. It starts with listening, observing, and asking: What does the operating system really say here?

Ready to Go Beyond the Slogans?

If you're curious where your culture might be out of alignment—or want help making it stick—let’s talk. You can:

• 👉 Schedule a advising call

• 🎧 Tune in to the Collaborative Culture podcast

• 📩 Join my newsletter for weekly insights like this one

Let’s build cultures that help you achieve your business goals!