Read Our Blog On Culture Change

This is the time of year when companies are finishing their budget processes. Leaders and senior managers have signed up to ambitious targets for 2025, and many will quietly be wondering how they will deliver on them. Mid-junior managers and staff will almost certainly have no idea what is coming down the pipeline: they’re hanging on for the year-end party! Humans tend to repeat the approaches we know.

The modern workplace is dominated by a managerialist approach prioritising efficiency, control, and standardisation over genuine leadership. While you may think it has value, the trend creates significant barriers to success in our increasingly chaotic world. You only have to look at global politics, national institutions, and the business world to see the impact of a paucity of leadership at every level.

Many of us who have had breakfast in hotels are familiar with a device known as a conveyor toaster. Wherever bread is served, there’s usually one of these standing by, ready to toast bread slices to a soft golden hue in a nonstop sequence to the delight of sleepy guests. Except it never does. For me it provides a valuable analogy for the approach to organisational culture that prevails in many businesses.

Boeing has announced a US$6.2 billion quarterly loss, arguably one of the few warning signs a traditional American corporation cannot ignore. But, in truth, other signs have been there for a long time if they only cared to consider them. Kelly Ortberg, who took over as CEO in August, has called for a fundamental culture change at Boeing: "We need to identify, understand, and fix the root causes".

Marketeers consistently talk about consistency. That’s because it’s important. Externally it’s clearly important that brands are presented in a consistent way across their ID and how they are communicated through an often eclectic mix of channels. But it’s equally important that all employees and others who represent the brand are also consistent in the way that they treat customers. And that’s not always easily achieved.

Diversity is quite the buzzword. In budget season 2025, meaningful business plans will require attention to the topic. There is value in diversity beyond ensuring that gender, ethnicity, different ability, or even sexual orientation quotas feature in the Human Resource strategy. There is a clear business justification that makes diversity and inclusion of different opinions essential. Two justifications, in fact.