The hidden lever for lasting cultural change
How to change culture without anybody noticing
Hi there,
One day, while sifting through our company emails, I noticed a pattern — there was an endless amount of faffing going on.
You know the kind: One person would float an idea, someone else would chime in with an enthusiastic “Oh, good idea!” A third would add their thoughts, and the thread would grow longer.
But beneath all this apparent engagement, nobody was actually committing to anything. Ideas hung in the air, and no one was moving things forward.
What struck me wasn’t just the waste of time, but the sheer volume of energy being consumed by this elaborate dance of non-commitment. Each response took time to craft, time to read, time to process — all leading nowhere.
Rather than tackle this through meetings or training sessions, I decided to experiment with a simpler solution. We implemented a single, mandatory line at the bottom of communication — “Action Needed” followed by a specific person’s name.
This tiny tweak produced extraordinary results. Almost overnight, the meandering discussions and noncommittal responses evaporated.
When every message required explicit clarity about who needed to do what, people began thinking differently about why they were sending emails in the first place. We eliminated nearly 85% of our inefficient email exchanges without a single meeting, memo, or committee.
And most importantly, it empowered everyone in the organization: Anyone, regardless of their position, could assign an action to anyone else. This simple line helped turn every team member into a catalyst for progress.
How to Change Culture Without Anybody Noticing
There are two fundamental approaches to changing culture.
The first is through direct intervention – the traditional toolbox of leadership that includes hiring and firing decisions, implementing KPIs, conducting coaching sessions, and holding one-on-one meetings.
It’s the equivalent of standing in front of your organization and declaring, “This is how things need to be now.” While these methods have their place, they often trigger an instinctive resistance. As the old saying goes, “Force always meets resistance.”
The second approach is the structural method. It is far more subtle and far more powerful. It’s about shaping the environment that shapes behavior.
Think of it as organizational architecture: the rhythm of your meetings, the layout of your spaces, the principles on your walls, even the messages in your bathroom stalls. These seemingly minor elements create the invisible infrastructure of culture.
When we implemented the “Action Needed” line at the bottom of our emails, we weren’t directly telling anyone to be more accountable or efficient. Instead, we modified the structure of communication itself. The change was frictionless because it didn’t feel like change at all – it was just a new feature of the environment.
Experiment
Duration: 2 weeks
Pick a way you don’t like how you use your phone. Instead of telling yourself the behavior you want to have with your phone, change the phone to promote the behavior you want.
Here are some ideas:
Make the home screen black and white
Put screen time limits on it
Use an app like ScreenZen that makes you pause before you open apps
Put your most addictive apps 3 menus deep
Turn off notifications
Whatever you do, do not apply any discipline except to not change your phone back to the way it was.
After two weeks, notice how your behavior changes without any effort.
Big Love,
Joe