GRASS Explained

What is GRASS?

GRASS stands for Gatherings, Rituals, Actions, Symbols and Stories. It is a framework for identifying where culture already lives inside an organisation, and where leaders can work with it. Culture can feel abstract until you know where to look. Every organisation already has gatherings, rituals, actions, symbols and stories. They are happening whether you design them or not. The question is whether they are reinforcing the culture you want or the culture you have inherited by default.

The five elements

Gatherings are the moments when people come together. Meetings, town halls, offsites, team lunches. How you gather shapes how people connect. The design of a gathering signals what matters. A town hall where only executives speak sends a different message to one where questions drive the agenda.

Rituals are the repeating practices that create rhythm and meaning. How you onboard new people. How you start the week. How you celebrate wins. How you end a project. Rituals create predictability and belonging. They tell people "this is how we do things here."

Actions are the everyday decisions and behaviours that accumulate. What leaders pay attention to. What gets funded. What gets rewarded. Who gets promoted. Actions are the most honest expression of culture because they reveal priorities in practice,
not just in principle.

Symbols are the visible signals of what matters. Office layout. The CEO's calendar. Who sits where in a meeting. What is on the walls. Symbols are powerful because people read them constantly, often unconsciously. A leader who leaves their door open is sending a symbol. A leader who is never on the floor is sending a different one.

Stories are the narratives that circulate inside an organisation. The founding myths. The cautionary tales. The story of the time the CEO admitted they were wrong. Stories carry culture because they compress values into something memorable and shareable. The stories people tell new joiners on their first day are more influential than any values statement on a wall.

Why GRASS matters

GRASS matters because it gives leaders five specific places to look and five specific places to act. Culture is not shifted by writing a new values statement or running a program. Culture is shifted where it already lives: in the gatherings you design, the rituals you protect, the actions you take, the symbols you create and the stories you tell.

Most organisations trying to shift culture start too big. They redesign the strategy. They announce a transformation. They roll out a program. GRASS invites a different starting point. Start with what is already there. Notice which of the five elements are reinforcing the culture you want. Notice which are working against it. Then make deliberate, small shifts in the places that matter most.

What GRASS looks like in practice

Consider an organisation where trust is low. The usual response is to run a trust- building program. A GRASS approach would ask different questions. What are the gatherings like? Are they performative or genuine? What rituals exist around feedback? Are they safe or punitive? What actions are being rewarded? Are they collaborative or competitive? What symbols of trust exist?

What stories circulate about what happens when someone takes a risk? The answers reveal where trust is being built and where it is being eroded. The shifts are specific: redesign one gathering, introduce one ritual, change one visible action. Culture shifts where it already lives.