How to Design Team Rituals to Accelerate Change
Don’t let your company culture just happen
Don’t let your company culture happen by accident.
Culture is what people repeatedly do — it can happen by accident or by design.
Watching the All Blacks perform the Haka is an intimidating experience for their rivals. You wouldn’t expect those brutal rugby players to care about the tidiness of the locker room, right?
New Zealand’s national rugby team credits its success to all their rituals, not just the Haka — a spotless dressing room also matters. The cleaning ritual that happens right after a match is designed to show thanks, build humility, and reinforce that all members are equal.
Rituals drive small and tangible improvements to any team, not just in sports.
When a behavior is repeated over time, it becomes part of the culture’s muscle memory. According to anthropologist Victor Turner, rituals have a unique power to bring people together — they give us a sense of purpose, values, and meaning.
Rituals a…
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