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  • Why You Can't Install Culture

    Why You Can't Install Culture
    2026/05/01

    Kate Nicholroy and Maddie Fox dig into one of the most persistent frustrations in organisational life: why culture change programmes so often fail to deliver, and what leaders can do differently.

    They explore the gap between change as an event and transition as an internal process, why the leadership team is always further ahead than the people hearing the news, and why culture does not live in the big moments. It lives in what happens every day in between.

    • Why 70% of organisational transformations fail, and why the announcement is rarely the problem
    • The Bridges Transition Model: change versus transition, and the three stages of endings, neutral zone, and new beginnings
    • Why the change team is always ahead of everyone else in the room, and how to account for that gap
    • The elephant and the rider: why logical business cases are not enough to shift behaviour
    • What leaders signal through what they measure, and how those signals shape culture more than any values statement
    • Why acknowledging what came before is not sentiment. It is a structural requirement for change that sticks
    • Culture change as a daily leadership practice rather than a project with a launch date

    Models and thinkers mentioned
    • The Bridges Transition Model, William Bridges (1991)
    • The Elephant and the Rider, Jonathan Haidt, The Happiness Hypothesis (2006)
    • Family Constellations and systemic principles, Bert Hellinger
    • Appreciative Inquiry (mentioned briefly; worth exploring further)

    Reflection questions from this episode

    Take these into your week:

    • What am I measuring as a leader, and what does that signal to my people about what I actually value?
    • When did I last ask someone what they would be sad to lose in any change we are making?
    • What is one thing I can do differently in the ordinary spaces between the big moments?

    For the next seven days, try noticing one moment each day where culture happens in the margins rather than in a staged event or formal communication. What do you notice, and what does it tell you about where your team really is?

    Get in touch

    We would love to hear from you. If you have been part of a culture change programme that genuinely worked, we want to know about it. Reach us at hello@acuriousspacepodcast.com.

    Find all episodes and resources at www.acuriousspacepodcast.com.

    Coming up next

    Episode 10: Purpose and Values Under Pressure. How do you hold yourself to the culture you want when things get hard? That is when it gets crunchy, and we cannot wait to get into it.

    With thanks to Tim Fox for producing A Curious Space and to Richard Flindell for the music.
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    35 分
  • Subcultures: The Good, The Bad, And The WhatsApp Group You're Not In

    Subcultures: The Good, The Bad, And The WhatsApp Group You're Not In
    2026/04/17
    Not One Weather System: Why Your Organisation Has Many Cultures, and What to Do About It If you have ever moved between departments and felt like you had walked into a completely different organisation, this episode is for you. This week, Kate and Maddie are exploring organisational subcultures: what they are, why they form, how they can help or hinder the change you are trying to make, and why understanding power between subcultures is one of the most overlooked skills in organisational life. What we cover in this episode: Kate opens with a surprising detour into the world of bees (specifically, what they do in winter to keep the hive warm), before the conversation turns to the main event. We start by unpacking what subcultures actually are and why they emerge. Drawing on Robin Dunbar's research into the limits of human social connection, Kate and Maddie explore why organisations stop feeling like one cohesive group once they grow beyond a certain size, and what fills that space instead. We then introduce a typology from researchers Martin and Siehl, which describes three kinds of subcultures: Enhancing subcultures, which amplify and reinforce the dominant culture of the organisation. Orthogonal subcultures, which are simply different, not aligned or opposed, just doing their own thing. And countercultural subcultures, which actively push back against the dominant direction. Maddy brings in the origin story of the Skunk Works project at Lockheed Martin, one of the most famous examples of a deliberately created enhancing subculture, designed to cut through bureaucracy and drive innovation at speed. We also touch on Google's cycling culture as an example of how an orthogonal subculture can create unexpected cross-functional connections. Kate then shares a case study from researchers Ogbonna and Harris (2015), based on a Premier League football club the researchers call Regent FC. It is a forensic look at what happens when a powerful subculture is directly threatened by organisational change, and what leaders can learn from why that change did not succeed. We close with some practical things to try, including how to audit the subcultures in your own organisation, and a personal reflection prompt for anyone who has recently changed roles or been promoted. Key concepts and thinkers mentioned: Robin Dunbar and Dunbar's Number, the idea that human beings can maintain stable social relationships with roughly 150 people at most. His book is listed below. Amy Edmondson's research on psychological safety and the role that team-level culture can play in providing safety even within a broader unsafe organisation. Her book is also listed below. Martin and Siehl's typology of organisational subcultures: enhancing, orthogonal, and countercultural. Ogbonna and Harris (2015), a case study on subculture, power, and failed culture change in a Premier League football club. Things to try: Do a subculture audit. Map the subcultures that exist in your organisation. Think about what each one is doing, which type it represents, and whether it is helping or creating drag on what you are trying to build. Consider what needs to be consistent across the whole organisation, and where genuine difference might actually be a strength rather than a problem. Reflect on your own position in the ecosystem. Which subcultures are you part of? Which ones have you recently left, perhaps through a change in role or level? What might that mean for how you are perceived, and for the relationships you may need to rebuild? Recommended reading: Amy Edmondson, The Fearless Organization Robin Dunbar, Friends: Understanding the Hidden Networks of Our Social Lives Katherine May, Wintering Next episode: Kate and Maddie turn their attention to culture change itself. How do you drive meaningful change in an organisation in a way that actually works? That one is coming soon. Get in touch: We would love to hear what you think. You can reach us at hello@acuriousspacepodcast.com If you enjoyed this episode, please rate or review on your podcast listening platform, and consider telling a colleague who would find it useful. A Curious Space is produced by Tim Fox. Music by Richard Flindell. Thank you both.
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    34 分
  • Conflict at Work: Good Fights, Bad Fights, and the Ones You're Taking Offline

    Conflict at Work: Good Fights, Bad Fights, and the Ones You're Taking Offline
    2026/04/03

    Conflict is not the problem. Avoiding it is.

    In this episode, Kate and Maddie get into one of the most misunderstood dynamics in workplace culture: conflict. Not the dramatic kind, but the everyday kind. The disagreement that goes unspoken in a meeting. The tension that surfaces as gossip rather than conversation. The team that looks cohesive on the surface but is quietly stuck.

    They explore how we are each shaped around conflict before we even walk into a room, what leaders can do to manage themselves through difficult conversations, and how to build team cultures where productive, generative conflict is actually possible.

    What we cover

    How your personal history shapes the way you show up in conflict, often without you realising it.

    The difference between task conflict (disagreeing about the work) and relational conflict (it has become about the person), and why one can tip into the other faster than you would expect.

    Why high-agreeableness teams are particularly vulnerable to conflict going underground, and what that costs them over time.

    The "above a five" rule: if a reaction is disproportionate, the issue is almost never the thing being discussed.

    What to do before a difficult conversation, including timing, mindset, and the "just like me" exercise from Google's Project Aristotle research.

    How to stay grounded during conflict: active listening, reflecting back, and what your body is telling you.

    Practical tools for creating a culture of productive conflict in your team, including Nancy Kline's thinking rounds, pre-mortems, de Bono's six thinking hats, and how to set ground rules before you need them.

    Resources mentioned

    No Hard Feelings: Emotions at Work by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy

    Time to Think by Nancy Kline (the thinking environment and thinking rounds)

    The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

    The Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (a tool for understanding your conflict style)

    De Bono's Six Thinking Hats

    Try this this week

    Start your next team meeting with a thinking round. Ask one question: what is going well on this project right now? Give everyone uninterrupted space to answer. Notice what it does to the room.

    Get in touch

    Got a question for our culture clinic at the end of the series? Send it to hello@acuriousspacepodcast.com

    Find us at www.acuriousspacepodcast.com

    Next episode

    Subcultures within organisations: how to influence them, whether they are helpful, and what they mean for driving change across a whole organisation.

    This episode wouldn't have been nearly as fabulous without the work of our brilliant producer, Tim Fox, and our catchy music by Richard Flindell.
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    44 分
  • Trust Falls and Other Workplace Injuries (How to build, break and repair trust at work)

    Trust Falls and Other Workplace Injuries (How to build, break and repair trust at work)
    2026/03/20
    Trust is one of those words that gets used a lot in organisations and examined rarely. In this episode, Kate and Maddie get into what trust actually means in the context of teams, why low trust is so costly, and what you can do to build and repair it in practice. They explore a framework for understanding trust not as a single thing but as a set of distinct components, and why that distinction matters enormously when something has gone wrong. What We Cover Why trust matters more than most organisations realise Low trust has a measurable cost. When people don't feel safe, they stop collaborating openly, they paper-trail decisions, and they spend energy managing the mistrust rather than doing the work. Kate shares some vivid examples from her own career. What trust actually is Trust, at its simplest, is choosing to make yourself vulnerable to another person's actions. Teammates have to get comfortable with that vulnerability in order to build real trust with one another. The different types of trust Rather than treating trust as all or nothing, Kate and Maddie explore a model that breaks it into three core components: competence trust (can you do what you say?), integrity trust (will you do what you said?), and benevolence trust (do you care about my interests?). They also discuss sincerity as a fourth dimension: do you mean what you say? How trust is built It is not built in big moments. It is stacked in small, repeated, reciprocal actions over time. Kate and Maddie talk through what that looks like in practice, and why the away day is not the answer (though it can play a supporting role when done well). Organised fun: what works and what really does not Trust falls. Compulsory group dances. Outdoor adventure days with no opt-out. Kate and Maddie have opinions. They also point to Priya Parker's work on intentional gatherings as a more considered approach. How to repair trust when it breaks The repair looks different depending on which type of trust has fractured. Kate and Maddie walk through practical approaches for each: narrowing and demonstrating competence, owning integrity gaps without justification, and listening deeply when benevolence trust has been broken. Team contracting as a foundation Setting clear, explicit agreements about how a team works together gives everyone a shared reference point. It makes calling out a breach of trust feel less personal and more like holding each other to what was agreed. Reflecting on your own pattern of trust How do you approach trust with someone you don't know yet? Are you trust-first, or do you need evidence first? Are there types of people you tend to trust more or less quickly? These questions are worth sitting with. References and Resources The Thin Book of Trust by Charles Feltman A short, practical book on trust in organisations. Explores sincerity, reliability, competence, and care as the core components of trust. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni Trust is the foundational layer in Lencioni's model. The book includes practical exercises for building it. Worth reading alongside the framework discussed in this episode. An integrative model of organizational trust, Mayer, Davis & Schoorman (1995) Research on competence-based, integrity-based, and benevolence-based trust in organisational contexts. Brene Brown on trust and vulnerability Brene Brown's work on vulnerability underpins much of the conversation in this episode. Her TED Talk on vulnerability remains one of the most watched of all time. She also has specific resources on trust, including her BRAVING acronym, available at brenebrown.com. Amy Brann, Neuroscience for Coaches Referenced in relation to how low psychological safety activates threat responses in the brain, reducing the capacity for higher-order thinking and collaboration. Priya Parker, The Art of Gathering Mentioned in relation to how to bring teams together intentionally. A practical and thoughtful guide to designing gatherings, both social and organisational, that actually do what you want them to do. Practical Things to Try Identify which type of trust has broken down. When something feels off in a relationship or team, ask whether it is a competence issue, an integrity issue, or a benevolence issue. The answer shapes the conversation. Reflect on your own pattern of trust. Do you extend trust by default, or do you need evidence first? Are there patterns in who you tend to trust more or less readily? What criteria are you using? Contract with your team on ways of working. Make your expectations of one another explicit. It gives you a foundation to return to if trust is breached, without it feeling like a personal attack. In a repair conversation: own the gap, explain the reasoning, and then be boring. Acknowledge what happened, provide context without justification, and then be predictably consistent until a new track record is established. Next Episode Kate and Maddie are talking about conflict in teams. If you ...
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    42 分
  • Belonging: Who Gets To Speak?

    Belonging: Who Gets To Speak?
    2026/03/06
    In this episode, Kate and Maddie dive into belonging: why it matters so much to individuals and organisations, what it actually looks and feels like in practice, and how you can start building it in your team today. Spoiler: it's not about writing a policy. It's about the small stuff. What We Cover 1. Belonging beyond a slogan We talk about why belonging is so fundamental, to individuals and to organisations. Kate shares insights from Helen Beedham's new book People Glue, which looks at what makes organisations sticky: the kind that people want to join, stay in, and bring their best selves to. We explore the neuroscience of exclusion (yes, it literally hurts), why belonging is a collective responsibility, and why it takes more than one "inclusion month" to make it real. 2. Belonging vs inclusion vs fit There's an important distinction between diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and there's one word that comes up constantly in hiring that we really don't like. We look at why "cultural fit" is a lazy shorthand that often just means "like me," how it quietly blocks difference, and what a better question to be asking might be. We also take a small detour into the nine-box grid. Kate has feelings. 3. Designing belonging without erasing difference Diverse teams genuinely outperform, but only when they're well supported. We look at Randall Peterson's research on what helps diverse teams thrive, including building trust deliberately, guarding against coordination failures, and making decision-making transparent. We also talk about amplification, a simple but powerful practice that came out of the Obama administration's female staffers and still holds up brilliantly today. Things to Try Share who you are, not just what you do. As a leader, try telling your team something about yourself that has nothing to do with work. You're modelling that there's room here for full humans, not just job titles. It's a small act that signals a lot. Start your next meeting with a check-in. Two words, one to ten, a mood thermometer, a llama picture: pick your format. The point is acknowledging that people arrive as whole people, not just resources. It also gives you useful information as a leader about who might need a bit more support. Watch who has airtime. Run yourself a quiet experiment this week: observe who speaks in meetings, whose ideas land, and whose get talked over. Then deliberately invite in the quieter voices. Notice what shifts. Try amplification. When someone's idea gets echoed by someone else, name the originator: "As Kate was saying..." It's simple, it's effective, and it changes the texture of a room over time. Find Out More People Glue by Helen BeedhamNo Hard Feelings: Emotions at Work and How They Help Us Succeed by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West DuffyAtlas of the Heart by Brené Brown (or her podcast, for her thinking on belonging specifically)Time to Think by Nancy Kline (on the Thinking Environment and equality of voice in meetings)Randall Peterson's research on diversity and team performance https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/four-ways-get-best-out-diverse-teams-randall-s-peterson/ Agony Aunt/Culture Clinic Got a culture challenge you'd like Kate and Maddie to think through? We're collecting questions for our Agony Aunt episodes at the end of this series. Send yours to hello@acuriousspacepodcast.com If you enjoyed this episode, a five-star rating or a follow goes a long way for a new podcast. And if you know someone who'd love this, please share it with them. Thanks to our producer Tim Fox and music creator Richard Flindell for making A Curious Space sound the way it does.
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    35 分
  • The stories running your culture (and how to rewrite them)

    The stories running your culture (and how to rewrite them)
    2026/02/20
    What if the narratives running through your organization are shaping performance in ways you've never noticed? In this episode, Maddie and Kate explore the power of storytelling at three critical levels: the stories we tell ourselves, the stories around us, and the stories organizations tell. From growth mindset to system traps, from medieval fairs to Patagonia's environmental activism, we unpack how deliberate storytelling can transform individual performance, team dynamics, and organizational culture. Plus, we share why appreciation matters more than you think, and what a housekeeper's trip to Hawaii can teach us about company values. In This Episode The Stories We Tell Ourselves How self-narratives become self-fulfilling propheciesThe power of reframing and conducting a "story audit"Carol Dweck's growth mindset research: why praising effort matters more than praising intelligencePractice makes progress: shifting from fixed to growth mindsets The Stories Around Us The Pygmalion Effect: how expectations shape performanceSystem traps and the "drift to low performance"Why the nine-box grid might be reinforcing the wrong narrativesThe emotional bank account: why specific appreciation beats generic praiseHow to escape the vortex of negative organisational narratives The Stories Organizations Tell Why leaders need to repeat messages until they're sick of saying themHow to honor organisational heritage while driving changeThe Ritz Carlton's $2,000 laptop story and what it teaches about culturePatagonia's environmental activism narrative and paying legal fees for protestersCrafting change narratives that connect to existing organisational stories One Thing to Try If you're a leader running a project or implementing change, try writing the story of your initiative. Don't just focus on the what and why—think about: How does this link to the past?How does it build on existing organizational narratives?How does this help evolve those stories?What future are you trying to create? Write it out, then share it with people and see if it lands differently. Referenced in This Episode Books: Thinking in Systems by Donella MeadowsThe Future of the Responsible Company: What We've Learned from Patagonia's First 50 Years by PatagoniaTime to Think, Nancy Kline Research & Concepts: Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset research (Stanford University)The Pygmalion Effect (Rosenthal and Jacobson)System traps: "Drift to Low Performance" and "Success to the Successful" from Thinking in Systems, Donella MeadowsGallup workplace engagement studiesNancy Kline's work on appreciation and thinking environments Watch: Ted Lasso (Apple TV) - A masterclass in building culture through storytelling Connect With Us Got a question for our Agony Aunts episode? We'd love to hear from you! Send your workplace dilemmas, leadership challenges, or organizational puzzles to: hello@acuriousspacepodcast.com About the Hosts Maddie Fox is the founder of Madfox Group, working with organizations on leadership development, culture change, and coaching. Kate Nicholroy is the founder of The Good Ideas Agency, specializing in innovation, systems thinking, and organizational development. Credits Music: Richard Flindell Producer: Tim Fox If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Your support helps us reach more curious leaders. Coming Next Episode: Building cultures that enable belonging—and why you'd want to.
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    37 分
  • The Zorro Guide to Influencing Culture Without Losing Your Mind

    The Zorro Guide to Influencing Culture Without Losing Your Mind
    2026/02/06

    How individuals influence culture (and what Zorro can teach us about it)

    Culture often gets talked about as something set by leaders, strategies and values decks.

    In this episode of A Curious Space, we zoom in somewhere else.

    We explore the role individuals play in shaping culture day to day, through small choices, habits and behaviours that quietly ripple out across teams and organisations.

    We unpack a simple but powerful idea: we all have the power to significantly shape the cultures we are part of, especially when we do it together.

    In this episode, Kate and Maddie discuss:

    • Why culture is made up of small actions rather than grand gestures

    • How individuals can influence culture intentionally, even without formal authority

    • Emotional contagion, mood hoovers and radiators

    • The spheres of control, influence and concern, and why they matter when change feels overwhelming

    • What Zorro can teach us about growing influence by starting small

    • How team identity shapes behaviour and outcomes

    • Why being deliberate about “how we want to be” as a team really matters

    As ever, we share practical reflections, useful frameworks and ideas you can take straight back into your work.

    References and further reading

    • Stephen Covey – Spheres of Control, Influence and Concern

    • Margaret Heffernan – Beyond Measure

    • Sean Achor – The Happiness Advantage

    • Haslam, Reicher & Platow – Research on leadership identity and “who we are”

    • Drexler–Sibbet Team Performance Model

    Got a team dilemma?

    We’re collecting questions, challenges and conundrums for our Agony Aunt episodes later in the series.

    If you’ve got a tricky team dynamic, a culture question, or something you’d love a thoughtful outside perspective on, email us at:

    hello@acuriousspacepodcast.com

    Thank you

    Huge thanks to our brilliant producer, Tim Fox, for keeping us on track and making the podcast sound far more coherent than it sometimes feels in the moment.

    And thank you to our music creator, Richard Flindell, for the soundtrack that carries us in and out of these conversations so beautifully.

    If you enjoyed this episode, please share it, rate it, or send it to someone who might need a reminder that small actions really do matter.
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    35 分
  • How Culture Is Shaped: Leaders & Founders

    How Culture Is Shaped: Leaders & Founders
    2026/01/22

    In this episode of A Curious Space, Kate and Maddie explore one of the biggest (and most underestimated) forces shaping organisational culture: leaders and founders.

    From emotional “weather systems” to decision-making habits and unexamined assumptions, this conversation looks at how culture is created every day — often unintentionally — through how leaders show up, decide, and relate to others.

    Along the way, we share practical reflections, coaching insights, and one simple thing you can try immediately if you lead (or influence) others.

    What we explore

    1. Leaders and founders set the emotional temperature How leaders’ moods, stress levels and ways of showing up ripple through teams — whether they intend it or not. We explore why this impact is amplified in leadership roles and how awareness is the first lever for change.

    2. Decision-making as culture in action Who gets listened to, how decisions really get made (not just how governance says they should), and how leaders shape culture through what they prioritise, question, or bypass.

    3. The unintended influence leaders carry From inherited beliefs and assumptions to past organisational experiences, leaders bring a lot with them. We unpack why unexamined assumptions can quietly undermine good intentions — and what helps surface them.

    One thing to try

    Before your next meeting, pause for 30 seconds and ask yourself: “How do I want to be in this room — and what will help me show up that way?”

    It might be a breath, a reset, a smile before you click “join”, or building small gaps between meetings. Tiny shifts in presence can have outsized effects.

    Find out more

    • The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership – Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman & Kaley Warner Klemp (Including the simple but powerful above the line / below the line model)

    • Harvard Business Review article: If You Want to Be a Great Leader, Be Present On mindfulness, presence, and the measurable impact leaders have on team performance and wellbeing

    Agony Aunt: your questions wanted

    We’re collecting real dilemmas for our upcoming Agony Aunt–style bonus episodes.

    If you have:

    • a tricky team dynamic

    • a leadership challenge

    • a culture or collaboration question

    📩 Email us at hello@acuriousspacepodcast.com

    We’d love to explore it with you.

    Coming up next

    In the next episode, we shift the lens away from leaders and ask: What role can everyone else play in shaping culture — regardless of job title?

    Thanks for listening, and see you next time in A Curious Space.
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    37 分