Company Culture Is Always Changing (Whether We Want It To or Not)
“Every organization has a culture, either by design or by default.”
- Patrick Lencioni, author & organizational health expert
Ask any employee when they felt the culture shift in their company, and chances are, they won’t name a reorg. Instead, they’ll name a moment.
The day their manager stopped asking for input. The new policy that sounded inclusive, but didn’t land. The Slack thread that turned into a running joke, but no one said anything.
These are the moments that reshape culture. In a 2024 paper from the Saïd Business School at Oxford, researchers found that employees’ perception of “micro-behavioral signals” (such as peer recognition, manager tone, or email response patterns) influenced their sense of culture more than formal communications or value statements.
So while companies obsess over branding and all-hands speeches, people are reading between the lines and learning what actually matters based on what gets repeated.
Culture Is Never Still – It’s Always Becoming
In most organizations, culture change gets treated as an event, whether it’s triggered by a crisis, a merger, or a top-down initiative. But the truth is, culture changes even when you do nothing.
In a 2022 study published in Alexandria Engineering Journal, it was found that organizations constantly experience ongoing, bottom-up culture shifts as a result of technology adoption, evolving job roles, and new interpersonal norms.
These changes are rarely addressed directly, which leads to a slow erosion of alignment between leadership intent and employee behavior. This results in a gap between what leaders believe is happening and what teams are actually doing.
And once that gap sets in, it doesn’t close on its own.
When A Workplace Rewrites Itself, So Does Culture
The World Economic Forum’s 2025 workforce report found that nearly 60% of global workers say their expectations of work have changed permanently in the past three years.
They now prioritize meaning, autonomy, psychological safety, and fair use of technology – particularly AI. If culture doesn't reflect these new priorities, talent will quietly disengage or leave.
At the same time, tools are advancing faster than team norms can catch up. The 2024 AIHR study on organizational culture change notes that most companies underestimate the ripple effects of tech adoption: workflows shift, power dynamics shift, communication patterns shift – and none of that is neutral.
So even if you didn’t plan for a culture shift, it’s not like you can do anything about it. It’s happening anyway, whether you want it or not.
Most Cultures Don’t Plan for Side Effects
“Culture isn’t just one aspect of the game – it is the game.” - Lou Gerstner, former CEO of IBM
Wharton’s executive research published in 2021 points out a common blind spot: most leaders roll out cultural initiatives without preparing for the unintended consequences.
You introduce cross-functional teaming? Suddenly, your high-performing silos start breaking down, but so does role clarity.
You roll out a new feedback system? Employees now expect faster responses from leaders who were never trained to give them.
You talk about AI experimentation? Teams expect psychological safety, but only hear silence when they raise concerns.
This isn’t failure. It’s physics. Culture change always comes with friction. The question is: are you preparing for it, or pretending it won’t happen?
Signs Your Culture Has Shifted Without You Noticing
Change doesn’t always come with a memo. Often, it arrives quietly, through new habits, tone shifts, and broken processes.
Here’s what to listen for:
· People start repeating phrases that aren’t in your values but reflect your norms.
· Managers avoid hard conversations because the cost feels higher than the benefit.
· Meetings are shorter, but decisions are slower.
· AI tools are used daily but rarely discussed.
· High performers are delivering but disengaging.
These signals aren’t random. They are evidence that your culture is shifting – just not in the direction you thought it was going.
Retaining What Works While Letting Go of What Doesn’t
The hard part of culture isn’t starting from scratch. It’s evolving without erasing.
A 2023 Harvard Business Review article reminds us: “Organizations that retain the best of their culture during change outperform those that try to overhaul it completely.”
That means identifying what still serves the team then building around it. That could be a shared language, a team ritual, a trust dynamic, or a norm around feedback. Hold onto that. But let the rest move.
Because culture doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be intentional.
Culture Doesn’t Wait for You to Catch Up
You don’t have to hold an offsite to spark cultural change. You’re doing it already. So is everyone else.
Culture is being shaped right now – in your hiring decisions, your tool adoption, your silence during meetings, and your response to mistakes.
So, the question isn’t, “Is our culture changing?” It’s, “Are we leading that change – or following it?”
Because no matter what you planned, your culture is already moving. The only question is: where is it headed?
Cultivate empowers organizations to not just adapt to change, but to lead in shaping the future of work. Let us help you build a thriving culture now — send us a message.
