How to Create a Culture That Is Ready for Anything
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” – Peter Drucker
Ready Is a Cultural Reflex
Most leaders say their people can adapt. That assumption doesn’t get tested in the good times.
It shows up in the tension: the tight deadlines, the AI rollout, the unexpected pivot.
The 2024 Cogent Business & Management study makes it clear: agility is closely tied to workplace culture. Environments that reward initiative, fast feedback, and shared accountability bounce back faster and outperform those that default to top-down control.
Yet in too many companies, culture remains theoretical. Well-written value statements sit untouched while behaviors default to legacy systems and risk aversion.
Because the truth is, culture isn’t what’s written on the poster. Instead, it’s what people practice on a day-to-day basis.
AI Exposed Weak Spots in Culture
With AI now embedded across departments, the workplace isn’t just evolving – it’s being restructured.
For instance, at Shopify, teams are required to test AI solutions before opening new headcount. Duolingo restructured entire functions around GPT-based tools. These moves may seem sudden, but they’re actually strategic.
More importantly, they expose cultural posture.
Did teams test the new tools quickly? Were managers open to new workflows? Was failure treated as a data point or a career risk?
In a 2023 global culture study from SHRM, over 70% of workers said their company culture influences how ready they feel for major change.
In other words: AI didn’t invent the uncertainty. It only revealed how well a company’s culture can handle it.
What Makes a Culture Ready
According to Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, “A company’s culture is the foundation for future innovation.”
And that’s completely true. Not every adaptable culture looks the same. But high-readiness cultures do share some traits – reflected not just in slogans, but in how people work and respond.
Based on ResearchGate’s 2023 findings, organizations that performed well under high-change conditions tended to demonstrate the following:
Distributed ownership. Decision-making doesn’t stay locked at the top. It’s shared across teams with clear context and trust. This creates faster responses and stronger accountability at every level.
Open dialogue. Feedback flows without political cost, even when it’s uncomfortable. People can challenge ideas, raise concerns, and speak honestly without fearing the consequences.
Fast reflection. Lessons are captured in real time, not postponed until the next review cycle. This shortens the gap between insight and action.
Systems-level thinking. Teams don’t just fix immediate problems. They question the process that allowed it. That shift prevents repeat issues and improves long-term performance.
Tech fluency. New tools aren’t treated as someone else’s job. Curiosity stays high, and AI gets integrated based on purpose, not hype.
What Leaders Need to Stop Doing
Some of the most common behaviors in leadership today continue to reward status but actively obstruct the very adaptability companies claim to want.
Leaders who aim to build a responsive, resilient culture must stop equating headcount with effectiveness. One common misconception is that size equals agility. Oftentimes, however, it only slows it down.
Companies also need to stop overlooking the daily friction middle managers face when trying to translate executive vision into team execution. After all, it’s in these middle layers where culture either breaks down or builds momentum.
Risk aversion is another hidden anchor: too many leaders say they want innovation but still punish failure. That contradiction creates paralysis. Likewise, cultures that reward only output – without making space to learn – signal that outcomes matter more than growth.
The Harvard Division of Continuing Education points directly to this pattern in its research, noting that many organizations still reward behavior modeled on past success instead of what the future demands.
The report emphasizes that culture is a major force behind business performance, and that without alignment between values and behaviors, even the most skilled employees struggle to adapt.
For business leaders, this isn’t theoretical, but operational. The systems you reward today shape your ability to respond tomorrow.
Cultures Ready for Change Do This Daily
It's not a speech that changes culture. It's the routines that shape how people move inside the system.
Build feedback loops around process, not just performance. Don't wait for the end result - make feedback part of the workflow. When teams reflect on how they work, not just what they produce, improvement speeds up.
Give teams room to run experiments without needing a presentation. Small tests shouldn't require a pitch deck. Make it easy to try, observe, and adjust without layers of permission.
Share decisions early, even if they're half-baked. Letting people see the thinking process invites collaboration. It also builds trust faster than presenting a polished, final call.
Update rituals. Start meetings with a real question. That shift alone can spark deeper thinking and make space for honest input.
Teach people how to ask: "Can a machine do this part?" and "Should it?" Tool fluency is now a basic part of good judgment. Help your team build that reflex.
These aren't dramatic changes. When repeated daily, though, they create teams that don't just adapt but move forward with intent.
Don’t Prepare for Everything. Prepare to Respond to Anything.
“You can’t build an adaptable organization without adaptable people – and individuals change only when they have to, or when they want to.”
- Gary Hamel, management author
Nobody can predict the next shift with 100% certainty. Not that you have to, anyway. The question isn’t when it arrives, but what happens once it does.
What gets rewarded? Who has the authority to act? How fast does learning travel?
A culture that’s ready for anything doesn’t mean calm. It means coordinated motion. People moving quickly. Leaders adjusting priorities without losing trust.
And readiness isn’t about what you know. It’s about what you practice.
Build the Culture, Shape the Future
You don’t build this overnight. But you can start tomorrow.
Every decision trains people what to expect. Every meeting is a message. Every small habit – how you respond to a surprise, how you handle pushback, how you model speed – shapes the culture you’re building.
So stop asking, “Are we ready?” and start asking, “What are we teaching people to do when the unexpected hits?”
Because that’s the culture you’re building. And it’s already in motion today.
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.
