How to Make Culture Tangible and Actionable – the ABCs

Stop confusing complex with vague

Catherine MacBride/Stocksy

“Our competitors are moving faster on AI adoption. We have the talent, technology, and resources, but our culture is holding us back," a CEO recently confided, "and we don't know where to start.” I hear this all the time – the frustration echoes across boardrooms.

Here's the thing: Organizations are trying to transform something they can't even define. For many leaders, organizational culture is still something vague and hard to grasp. They don't know how to make it more tangible, let alone intentionally improve it.

It reminds me of the parable of blind men encountering an elephant for the first time. One touches the trunk and declares an elephant is like a snake. Another feels the leg and says it's like a pillar. A third touches the ear and claims it's like a fan. Each perception is accurate but incomplete.

That's precisely how many organizations approach culture. They mistake the part for the whole. Some believe it's having a set of values, others focus on per…