Culture Is a Wicked Problem—Your Shot of Fearless Culture #393
Where change agents find their weekly dose of culture insights and exercises, one topic at a time.
I week, I have one simple suggestion:
Can we get rid of the "fix it" mindset?
I'm tired of hearing people say they want to fix their culture, as if it were a broken appliance.
First, your culture is not perfect and will never be. Get used to it being messy, complicated, always changing (and out of your control).
Second, and most importantly, culture is not a problem to solve but something to continually nurture.
You wouldn't try to "fix" a garden. You'd tend to it, nurture it, adjust what needs adjusting. Some seasons it thrives, others require more attention. But the work never stops.
Culture is a wicked problem: It's complex, unclear, has multiple root causes, and many possible solutions. All characteristics of wicked, not tame problems.
I invite you to check out this week's article and, hopefully, follow my advice: stop trying to fix culture moving forward.
Explore this week's newsletter:
My latest article → Stop Trying to Fix Your Culture
Practical tips and activities to accept that culture is a wicked problem
Stay fearless, my friend.
Gustavo
In Case You Missed It
→ Your culture is not perfect (and it will never be)
Ask Your Team This
Which aspects of our culture feel messy and complex, that we need to accept and stop fighting?
⚠️ Try This
The Day 1 Challenge
Jeff Bezos put it bluntly: Day 1 is full of vitality, experimentation, and customer focus. Day 2 is stasis, then irrelevance, then decline, then death.
Most teams only question what’s broken. But real danger hides in what seems to be working.
Step 1: Ask your team to list 3–5 practices, processes, or beliefs no one ever questions because they seem successful.
Step 2: For each one, ask: “If we were starting today, would we choose this?”
Step 3: Take one “successful” practice and flip it. Ask:
“What if the opposite were true?”
“What if this suddenly became impossible?”
The goal isn’t to scrap everything but to stress-test your habits and ensure they still serve you.
🍦 Feed Your Curiosity
Most of us are wrong about how the world has changed. It’s better than we think.
The strategic decisions that caused Nokia’s failure
The state of global workplace culture in 2024
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Uncovering your actual culture (beyond the values on your wall)
Identifying the hidden gaps blocking change
Designing a culture that drives the behaviors you actually need
Learn more about the Culture Design Masterclass.
“Gustavo is amazing! I had been waiting for this class for months and it was worth the wait! I’m excited to continue the certification journey because one day is just not enough for the amount of wisdom he has to share.”
– Michelle
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Gustavo Razzetti
CEO, Fearless Culture