Culture Design Canvas© FAQ: The Complete Guide
Frequently Asked Questions about the Number One Culture Mapping Tool
I can't believe it's been seven years since I conducted my first open Culture Design Masterclass, teaching people how to effectively facilitate the Canvas. It was the first time I opened the tool to the world after using it exclusively with my clients. My thought was simple: We can't change the world alone.
This FAQ is another step toward helping people change culture effectively.
Whether you're discovering the Culture Design Canvas for the first time or returning after years away, this is your complete guide. I'll clarify the basics for beginners and provide important updates and reminders for experienced practitioners.
This FAQ is organized into five categories addressing a range of questions, such as how to use the Canvas, template download, licensing terms, and different applications.
1. Understanding the Culture Design Canvas
What is the Culture Design Canvas—and why do most culture tools fail?
The Culture Design Canvas is a strategic tool that helps map, assess, and design workplace culture for both teams and organizations. Its main goal is to overcome the widespread notion that culture is abstract and hard to grasp. By codifying culture—putting it into words and a visual structure—leaders and team members can finally make sense of what was previously invisible.
The Canvas captures culture as a system, considering ten key building blocks that shape how work gets done. You can zoom in on each element or zoom out to see it in its entirety, reflecting on the interconnections between different parts.
How does the Canvas help teams and organizations?
By making culture visible, people can understand what's working, what's not working, and what's broken. It encourages real conversations about culture, bringing people to the center of the culture design process rather than leaving it to leadership or HR.
Most importantly, it uncovers the gap between the declared and the real culture—what leaders say versus how employees actually experience it. These conversations turn abstract frustrations into tangible insights. Culture isn't monolithic, and the Canvas reveals differences across levels, departments, and geographies that leaders often miss or ignore. The idea is not to suppress subculture but to find common ground.
What makes the Culture Design Canvas different from other culture frameworks?
It's built on principles of user-centric design rather than theoretical models. It's a living document that evolves as culture evolves, not a one-off assessment that sits on a shelf. Instead of pure diagnosis, it connects people's real experiences, combining tangible elements with less tangible ones.
Most tools reduce the culture conversation to values and behaviors. The Canvas goes beyond this narrow view, capturing critical elements like decision-making processes, feedback mechanisms, team rituals, meetings, and more.
Is the Culture Design Canvas just a template, or am I missing the bigger picture?
Here's where most people get it wrong: They just see the Canvas as a template. It's actually three things simultaneously: a framework (giving you a model of what culture encompasses), a method (guiding how to facilitate meaningful conversations), and yes, a visual template (helping you capture key ideas and principles).
Another mistake to avoid is treating it like a fill-in-the-blanks exercise. The real value comes from the conversations, insights, and systemic understanding it creates. Simple design invites collaboration, but meaningful culture work always requires intentionality and skill. It’s less about sticky notes and more about uncovering insights—people’s experiences, feelings, and beliefs.
Who uses the Culture Design Canvas effectively?
From a participation standpoint, the conversations should include multiple stakeholders—leaders, managers, and team members. Sometimes, even board members join one of the mapping sessions. From a facilitation perspective, the most effective sessions are led by certified culture designers, trained HR/culture executives, or skilled team leaders.
Here's the reality: While every skilled facilitator can use the tool, formal training accelerates the process. Even those who have used it across countless opportunities recognize what they were missing before taking our Masterclass—they were rushing the mapping process, mixing current state with future state, struggling with consolidating the results from multiple sessions, or puzzling over how to turn words into action. Proper training accelerates the process, helps you dig deeper, and prevents common pitfalls.
How has the Culture Design Canvas evolved?
While the Canvas might look similar to early versions, significant improvements have happened under the surface. We've refined the order of elements, improved the language of guiding questions, and now clearly organize everything into three critical sections: Alignment, Belonging, and Collaboration.
Behind the scenes, we've developed a set of over 200 questions—100 for mapping current state, 100 for assessment—plus numerous tools for tackling each building block. Since the original launch, I’ve also developed a complete step-by-step methodology to assess, define action plans, and prioritize interventions. These are all additional frameworks that feed the Canvas.
Many practitioners who took the course years ago were impressed by all the upgrades once they rejoined one of our programs.
2. The ABC Framework: Making Culture Actionable
Why do most culture frameworks fail—and how does the ABC structure solve that?
Most approaches to culture either oversimplify (reduce culture to values and perks) or overcomplicate (turn it into academic theory). The Canvas makes culture tangible and actionable.
The Culture Design Canvas has 10 blocks organized around the ABCs of culture: Alignment, Belonging, and Collaboration—the three key dimensions I identified analyzing hundreds of company cultures.
The ABC framework emerged from a different question. Instead of asking "what is culture," I focused on addressing "what does culture encompass?"
Alignment keeps everyone moving toward a shared future. It includes your Purpose (why you exist), Values (guiding principles), Strategic Priorities (what you put first), and Behaviors You Reward & Punish (what you incentivize or tolerate). When alignment fails, even the best teams get lost pursuing conflicting goals.
Belonging is the emotional dimension that turns individuals into a team. It encompasses Psychological Safety (freedom to speak up), Feedback (how you help each other grow), and Team Rituals (how you celebrate people and work). Without belonging, culture becomes transactional—people show up but don't fully engage.
Collaboration is how work gets done. It covers Decision-Making (how authority flows), Meetings (how you convene and coordinate), and Rules & Norms (your operating agreements). Even with strong alignment and belonging, broken collaboration creates friction and stalls progress.
Culture is a system, and the three sections bring all the elements together—you can see the whole picture or zoom in on one of the building blocks. However, in real-life all these elements are a system––they feed off the others.
The Canvas is a framework that should adapt to reality, not force reality to fit the framework.
What critical gaps does the Culture Design Canvas expose that leaders miss?
The Canvas forces uncomfortable conversations that most organizations avoid. It reveals the gap between declared culture (what leaders say) and real culture (what employees experience daily). This isn't just about misalignment—it's about discovering which elements of your culture drive behavior.
Here's what gets exposed: Competing priorities surface when teams claim to value collaboration but reward individual performance. Decision-making confusion emerges when people think they're making decisions but are actually just being consulted. Feedback cultures reveal themselves as either honest growth environments or polite appreciation exchanges that avoid real issues.
The Canvas also uncovers good practices hiding in plain sight. That innovative feedback approach the marketing team developed? It could transform engineering. The decision-making clarity in operations? Sales desperately needs it. Most organizations have cultural gold mines they don't even know exist.
It serves as a wake-up call for leaders who assume their perspective matches the organizational reality. Executives often discover their "open door policy" feels like walking on eggshells to employees, or their "fast-moving culture" actually paralyzes teams with decision anxiety.
Most importantly, it helps idealists see what can be improved while helping skeptics recognize what's already working. Culture isn't perfect—and it never will be. However, the Canvas shows both the mess and the potential, giving you starting points instead of overwhelming transformation mandates.
What does the Canvas reveal about organizational blind spots?
The Canvas acts like an organizational MRI, revealing what's happening beneath the surface. It exposes the informal power structures that really drive decisions, regardless of org charts. It shows which values actually guide behavior versus which ones only look good on websites.
You'll discover cultural contradictions that create daily friction. Teams claiming psychological safety, while people fear speaking up in meetings. Organizations promoting a work-life balance despite celebrating those who answer emails at midnight. Leaders preaching transparency, yet keeping decision-making processes opaque.
The Canvas reveals subcultures within the larger system. Engineering might operate with completely different feedback norms than sales. Remote teams might have stronger psychological safety than in-office groups. These differences aren't necessarily problems—they often represent adaptations that work for specific contexts.
Hidden practices emerge that could revolutionize other areas. A ritual that builds belonging in one department could address isolation issues elsewhere. A decision-making approach that works brilliantly in product development might solve chronic delays in marketing.
Is the Canvas just for mapping current state—or future state?
Here's where most people get it wrong: They think mapping and designing are separate activities. The Canvas works for both, but you must sequence them correctly. Otherwise, you'll create more harm than good.
The biggest mistake is mapping your ideal culture instead of your real one. This creates beautiful posters that disconnect from the employee experience. Another common error is jumping straight to future state design without understanding the current reality, like trying to give directions without knowing where someone is starting.
The Canvas guides you through three distinct phases, each requiring a different mindset:
Mapping requires thinking like an anthropologist—understanding culture without judgment and capturing how people actually experience work, not how leaders think they should.
Assessment demands detective thinking—seeking contradictions, connecting dots, challenging groupthink, and uncovering what's not being said.
Design calls for a sculptor mindset—helping teams visualize their potential and removing what's unnecessary, not imposing external solutions.
The transformation happens through the process itself. When teams honestly map their current culture, they start identifying what needs to evolve. When they assess gaps between the declared and real culture, solutions emerge organically. The Canvas doesn't just capture culture; it facilitates conversations that change it.
If you're not involving people in the process, you're not doing culture design—you're doing culture dictation. And that rarely works.
3. How to Use the Culture Design Canvas
What are the most impactful use cases for the Culture Design Canvas?
- Mapping and assessing current culture
- Creating alignment in new or merged teams
- Onboarding new employees or senior leaders
- Culture retrospectives or post-project reviews
- Understanding cultural compatibility between organizations during M&A
- Evolving culture for fast-growth organizations or when the environment changes
- Adapting culture when leadership changes, especially with new CEOs
How do you go from mapping to meaningful action?
There's a step-by-step process that requires integrating the map from each pocket of your organization (levels, departments, geographies) into one comprehensive view. Then you analyze each building block to identify patterns, contradictions, and gaps before defining your course of action.
Most initiatives stall because teams skip the integration step or rush to solutions without understanding systemic connections. Where is there misalignment across the ABC dimensions? What's missing entirely? The key is defining small but significant culture experiments to test and iterate forward, not launching massive transformation programs.
Can the Canvas work for teams, departments, or entire organizations?
It works at any level depending on your goal. Team-level application gives you the most tangible and immediate impact. Company-level application requires more sophisticated facilitation and integration across different organizational pockets, but it provides comprehensive transformation insights.
Does the Canvas work effectively with remote or hybrid teams?
Absolutely. Remote and hybrid teams often use the Canvas to bridge physical distance and create shared context. It's particularly valuable to drive clarity, consistency, and commitment.
Do you need to use the entire Canvas, or can you focus on specific sections?
It depends on your goal, budget, and time constraints. You can focus on one section (Alignment, Belonging, or Collaboration), work on individual building blocks, or tackle the whole framework.
Focusing on one section is an excellent way to get started and build momentum. For larger projects or major cultural transformations, it's recommended to address the entire Canvas to understand the whole system. Here’s how to choose the right path for your team.
4. Real-World Examples and Applications
Can the Culture Design Canvas be used for any type of organization?
Absolutely. The Canvas has been successfully implemented across every type of organization imaginable:
- Fortune 100 companies, scaleups, and startups with under 10 employees
- Nonprofits and government agencies to tech companies and family businesses
- Global corporations, regional companies, and local businesses
The Canvas has been used in at least 583 cities across 52 countries, proving its universal applicability.
How can I use the Canvas for organizational transformations and major changes?
The Culture Design Canvas proves especially valuable during significant transitions, providing a structured way to navigate cultural complexity.
During Leadership Transitions: New leaders can map the existing culture before making changes, understanding what to preserve versus what needs evolution.
M&A Integration: The Canvas helps identify cultural compatibility and friction points between merging organizations, creating integration roadmaps that respect both cultures while building something new.
Scaling Challenges: Fast-growing companies use the Canvas to maintain cultural coherence while adapting to new markets, geographies, or business models.
Crisis Response: Organizations facing cultural crises can use the Canvas to diagnose root causes and design recovery strategies that address systemic issues, not just symptoms.
The key is using the Culture Design Canvas as a navigation tool, not just a fill-the-template exercise.
Can I see examples of organizations mapped through the Culture Design Canvas?
Yes, we've analyzed culture across hundreds of organizations using the Canvas framework. Examples include Netflix's freedom and responsibility culture, Atlassian's ownership and transparency approach, Airbnb's values evolution during growth, Southwest Airlines' humor-driven belonging culture, and IKEA's "fika" informal conversation practices—and many more.
See 12 examples of companies’ culture using the canvas.
What do people say about using the Culture Design Canvas?
People consistently value:
Practical methodology that drives action – "step-by-step, logical guide" with "actionable next steps" and "clear recommendations for a path forward"
Expert facilitation that creates psychological safety – helping teams "share transparently" and "feel safe and free to experiment" while enabling "honest conversations around behavioral change"
Lasting transformational impact – organizations report "still talking about the positive impact" and experiencing "profound value" that turns sessions into "cultural transformational experiences"
Proven tools and frameworks – the Canvas and related tools are "simple to use" yet get "at the heart of what matters most"
Universal applicability – success stories span nonprofits to Fortune 500 companies across industries and organization sizes
"The Culture Design Canvas Masterclass was the most powerful learning experience... Well worth the time and financial investment!"
"Even after using the Canvas for years, the Culture Masterclass revealed everything I had missed. The depth behind the simple framework is incredible."
"The mapping process revealed gaps between declared principles and lived experience that we didn't know existed."
Can the Canvas help build specific types of culture, like innovation or ownership?
Absolutely. The Canvas serves as a diagnostic framework to identify which elements need transformation to achieve specific cultural goals.
For Innovation Culture: Focus on Belonging elements to promote a culture of risk-taking, autonomy, and freedom to experiment, and work on Collaboration elements like decision-making speed to try, test, and iterate.
For Ownership Culture: Strengthen Alignment through clear purpose and priorities while enhancing Collaboration through decentralized decision-making and accountability structures.
For Remote Culture: Emphasize Belonging through virtual rituals and connection practices, and codify clear async-first Collaboration norms.
5. Template Access, Licensing & Training
Where can I get the Culture Design Canvas?
You can download the free PDF version from: fearlessculture.design/canvas.
Please note: The Miro and Mural templates, which include a guided workshop facilitation, are exclusively available to participants in our training programs.
Who owns the Culture Design Canvas?
The Culture Design Canvas© is the intellectual property of Gustavo Razzetti, CEO of Fearless Culture. All rights reserved. You can use it at no cost as long as you respect the licensing terms.
What are the licensing terms of the Culture Design Canvas?
You're welcome to use the Canvas with your team, company, or clients at no cost as long as you respect the terms.
The Culture Design Canvas® framework, template, and its name are registered and protected under copyright. As of 2023, the framework is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) license. We updated the terms to address repeated misuse.
Using or sharing the Culture Design Canvas® publicly requires proper attribution. Include name of the tool (Culture Design Canvas), author, Gustavo Razzetti, and link to official source: https://www.fearlessculture.design/canvas
The following uses are strictly prohibited:
Rebranding the Canvas or removing the original author's name, logo, or links
Selling, reselling, or using the Canvas as lead-generation
Creating derivative versions with altered names, or wording that mirror the original framework
If you have any questions, contact our team at help@fearlessculture.design
What culture design training programs are available?
We offer three levels to master the Culture Design Canvas:
Culture Design Masterclass: A live, six-hour intensive program to master the culture design framework (not just the canvas), focused on mapping and assessment. Participants work in real-time with peers, complete exercises, and gain access to facilitation guides and tools.
Build a Fearless Culture Program: Focused on designing future state and driving change. Eight two-hour live, hands-on sessions, mastering ready-to-use tools for each of the 10 building blocks.
Culture Design Certification: For advanced practitioners who've completed the first two programs. This track offers mastery in facilitation, learning how to design your own tools, and inclusion in a global network of culture designers.
Do you recommend I take the training?
Yes, impactful culture work requires more than good intentions. Not only does it accelerate the process, but you’ll avoid common mistakes.
Training helps you learn directly from Gustavo Razzetti and his team, get answers to your specific questions, work on real-life examples, and learn from a cohort of global peers. You'll learn by doing—mapping, analyzing, and discussing culture with expert guidance.
Do I have to be certified to use the Canvas?
No. The certification is for those who want to apply it professionally, lead culture initiatives with confidence, and become part of the Fearless Culture network.
Visit our website for more free culture design tools and resources.