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Culture Is Not a Project — It’s Your Organisation’s DNA
Too many leadership teams fall into the trap of treating culture as a side initiative, a people-focused problem to be handed off to HR, or a short-term engagement exercise to tick off the board’s ESG box. That view is not only narrow — it’s dangerous. Culture is not a bolt-on. It is the platform upon which everything else stands: your customer experience, your ability to pivot when the market shifts, how you lead through crises, and even the behaviour of your managers when an employee shares personal news like, “My youngest child is sick.”
To borrow the metaphor from leadership consultant John O. Burdett, organisations don’t “have” culture — they are their culture. It’s the unseen force that defines how things really get done when no one’s watching. It’s what allows an inspirational leader to shape something meaningful out of the everyday chaos of business. Without it, even the most sophisticated strategies are built on sand.
The Problem With Strategy-First Thinking
Business education over the last five decades has largely taught us to develop a strategy first, and then craft a culture to support it. This approach might work in a world that rarely changes. But in today’s fluid, fast-moving environment — where strategy is increasingly iterative — this model simply doesn’t hold up.
The logic is flawed: you can’t redesign your culture every time you revisit your strategic roadmap. And with external conditions shifting at a faster pace than most strategic plans can adapt to, this traditional sequencing creates a disconnect. When culture and strategy are misaligned, there will only be one winner — and it won’t be strategy.
Peter Drucker’s now-famous phrase, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” is often quoted to reinforce this idea. It’s sharp, memorable, and resonates deeply — but it’s also incomplete. Culture alone isn’t enough. A cohesive, values-driven organisation without a clear direction is like driving a Ferrari without a map. Impressive on the outside, but ultimately lost.
Put Culture at the Front of the Bus
Rather than choosing between culture or strategy, executive leaders should be asking: Are culture and strategy travelling together? And if so, is culture up front? When you sit down to chart out your next strategic move, the very first question should be: What kind of culture do we need to bring this strategy to life?
The emphasis here is on need, not want. Aspirational culture — no matter how beautiful the words on the poster — has no impact unless it is lived and embedded across the organisation. A values statement that sounds inspiring but doesn’t align with behaviours and decision-making is a bridge to nowhere.
The companies that outperform over the long term do something fundamentally different. They don’t bolt culture on as a strategic enabler. They lead with it. They let it shape strategic decisions. And most importantly, they ensure their leaders at every level are active stewards of that culture, not just its passive recipients.
Final Thoughts: Start With the Human, Then Build the Plan
At its core, culture is about people — how they think, feel, and act. Strategy, by contrast, is about choice — where to play, how to win. Neither can succeed without the other. But if you want your strategy to stick, it must be forged in a culture that can support it.
So next time you gather your executive team to shape the next chapter of your organisation’s future, don’t leave culture for the end of the agenda. Let it lead. Ask the hard questions: What culture do we need to thrive? What must we protect, evolve, or let go of?
Because in the end, the culture you establish early on won’t just influence your strategy — it will determine whether your strategy ever sees the light of day.
This article explores themes and concepts from content by John O. Burdett.
John O. Burdett is founder of Orxestra® Inc. He has extensive international experience as a senior executive. As a consultant he has worked in more than 40 countries for organisations that are household names. John has worked on organisation culture for some of the world’s largest organisations. His ongoing partnership with TRANSEARCH International means that his thought leading intellectual property, in any one year, supports talent management in many hundreds of organisations around the world. Get in touch with John O. Burdett »
