From Strength to Shadow: The Story Behind Cultural Layers

In 2022, I worked with a client to address a growing frustration: decision-making had become slow, bureaucratic, and burdensome. What had once been a cultural strength—safekeeping and legal diligence—had evolved into a shadow that hindered performance.

The organisation had a top-tier legal team, but their increasing involvement in decision-making was affecting the leadership team’s ability to operate effectively. The frustration was palpable: every key decision required a paper to the leadership team, and every paper had to pass through legal review. It wasn’t always this way, but the reasons for the process had been forgotten.

The Story Behind the Shadow

Through conversations with people across the organisation, we unearthed the story behind the layers of bureaucracy:

1. Five years earlier, a negative audit report had recommended legal reviews of key decisions to assess compliance risks.
2. Over time, this expanded to reviewing all leadership team papers, requiring a larger legal team.
3. The larger legal team introduced more detailed risk reviews, leading to heavier papers.
4. To simplify the process, a streamlined template was developed—stripping away the richness of context and making reading tedious for the leadership team.
5. As leaders and lawyers changed, the original reason for the process was lost, yet the habit continued.

What had started as a good idea had become hardwired into the culture, adding complexity and resentment.

Scraping Back the Layers

When a new CEO and leadership team arrived, they wanted to refresh the culture and build readiness for the organisation’s independence. But this couldn’t happen without understanding the story behind the cultural shadow.

Like scraping away layers of old paint to reveal beautiful wooden floorboards, the leadership team unearthed the story, reset expectations, and worked with the legal team to create a new way forward.

The Power of Stories in Shifting Culture

Cultural shifts often require uncovering the stories that shaped current behaviours. Stories give meaning to processes, habits, and norms—even when the original purpose is forgotten. By revisiting those stories, organisations can realign practices with their current needs and aspirations.

Try This Experiment

Conduct an attention audit:

• Over the past week, what has your leader or a peer paid attention to that influenced your actions?
• What have you paid attention to that your team will have noticed?
• What important things have been overlooked and need to be put back on your radar?

Questions for Reflection

• What stories are told about your organisation’s origins and founders?
• Who are the heroes and villains in your culture’s stories, past and present?

Uncovering these stories might just reveal the layers that need to be shifted for your culture to thrive.