Choose interventions that work

Culture change. It sounds ambitious but in practice, it often feels like stumbling in the dark. Everyone talks about it, yet when you ask, “What exactly needs to change?”, the room often falls silent. Or you get a cacophony of opinions and a flood of different interventions. Only when innovation stalls, collaboration creaks, or the same conflicts keep resurfacing does culture become an explicit topic. And that’s when you realise how elusive and resistant organisational culture can be.

Many organisations reach for the usual toolkit: training courses, leadership programmes, new core values, Lean, Scrum. Sometimes these choices are driven by personal preference, sometimes by hype, or simply because “it worked somewhere else”. But what propels one company forward can throw sand in the gears of another. Rarely do people stop to ask: does this intervention fit our situation, here, now, and given what culture really is?

This article aims to sharpen your view: what’s really going on, and which targeted interventions can truly get the change moving? We don’t offer a ready-made recipe, but a practical framework to help managers and HR professionals judge which interventions are appropriate, when they’re effective, and how they can reinforce one another.

What do we actually mean by culture?

To change a culture, we first need to understand what it is. And that’s often where things go wrong. Many people see culture as the sum of individual behaviours, attitudes or values. But that picture is incomplete.

An organisational culture is an interconnected system. It’s about group behaviour, the beliefs that justify that behaviour, and the power structures between and within groups. These elements sustain one another. Beliefs are also interlinked, because they form part of the reasoning people use to explain why certain behaviours are ‘right’ or ‘appropriate’ in their organisation.

Many ways of behaving once started as solutions to problems people faced. Over time, these solutions become assumptions and local truths. No one asks why things are done that way anymore. That’s precisely what makes culture so tenacious: it lives in the collective memory of the organisation.

Interventions therefore need to touch several elements of the culture at once to shift the balance within that interconnected system. Focusing on only one aspect — for instance, targeting visible but dysfunctional behaviour — overlooks the fact that behaviour exists within a context of shared beliefs and internal power dynamics. Behavioural changes introduced in isolation often bounce back, because other parts of the culture remain unchanged.

A deeper understanding of what organisational culture really is also changes how we approach culture change. It’s not only about shared behaviour, it’s about the shared ways of thinking, acting and relating that define life within an organisation.

It’s equally important to distinguish what you want to preserve from what genuinely needs to change. Not everything has to be dismantled. In fact, many aspects of a culture work well and are worth keeping. The art lies in recognising those strengths, while consciously breaking through and reshaping the elements that no longer serve the organisation. In doing so, a culture emerges that fits better with today’s challenges and once again contributes to the organisation’s wider purpose and social mission.

Because the elements of culture are so tightly interwoven, cultural change is complex and far-reaching. It can’t happen all at once; it takes time. To do justice to this complexity, a phased approach is essential, one that gradually sets a process of transformation in motion.

The five phases of culture change

A culture never changes in a straight line. Yet you can distinguish five recognisable phases and each one demands something different from you as a manager or change leader. Each phase also calls for its own type of intervention.

1. Preparation and decision to change
2. Creating a sense of urgency
3. Detaching from the existing culture
4. Strengthening the emerging subculture
5. Embedding and stabilising the new culture

Let’s walk through them step by step.

Phase 1. Preparation and decision to change

Every change begins with a realisation: the way we work now no longer fits what’s being asked of us. Sometimes that insight follows a crisis; sometimes it grows from long-standing issues that can no longer be ignored.

Organisational cultures are often deeply rooted in their history. But the world around them changes: markets, customers, technology, and social expectations evolve. These external shifts make it clear that the current culture no longer aligns with the values the organisation wants to create.

In this first phase, it’s crucial to understand where the friction lies. A cultural diagnosis can help, providing connected insights into questions such as: which behaviours are no longer appropriate in today’s context? What and who sustain those dysfunctional behaviours? Which dominant values, beliefs and assumptions underpin them? Who holds influence, formally and informally? Which parts of the current culture are worth preserving?

Only when the gap between how things are and what must change becomes visible can the leadership team make a genuine decision about change. That moment is critical. Recognising that continuing along the same path is no longer viable demands courage, self-reflection and unity among the organisation’s leaders.

The decision to change is typically accompanied by forming a change coalition, a group of people who take the lead in the process. This could be a dedicated project team guiding the culture change, or several working groups collecting ideas and feedback from across the organisation. This coalition becomes fertile ground for a new group of culture bearers, people who will later embody and spread the desired culture throughout the organisation.

Phase 2. Creating a sense of urgency

Once the leadership team has made the decision to change, the next step is to ensure that everyone in the organisation understands why that change matters and that their personal contribution is essential. A simple call to action — “we need to do things differently” — is not enough. People need to understand, feel and see why the culture change is necessary. They must grasp what’s at stake, but also what there is to gain. Without that, there’s no real energy behind the movement.

Here are some ways to make the sense of urgency tangible and compelling, to create a story of change that people want to share and act upon:

• Combine facts and stories: pair data or customer feedback with real-life stories that touch people emotionally.
• Use scenarios: show what the future could look like if nothing changes and, just as vividly, how it could look if the change succeeds.
• Let others do the talking: invite a client to explain why they stopped working with you, a colleague to describe how the work has become unnecessarily slow, or a senior leader to share genuine worries about the organisation’s direction.
• Make it visual and experiential: use short videos, simulations or interactive sessions that make people feel the issue, not just understand it intellectually.

Timing matters. Crises or broader social developments can offer opportunities to strengthen the sense of urgency but don’t overplay them. Urgency without a way forward leads to paralysis. The essence of this phase is to touch, connect and mobilise, to turn awareness into engagement and readiness for action.

Phase 3. Detaching from the existing culture

Every organisation has built-in forces that resist change. The familiar feels safe. It benefits some people, fits existing ways of thinking, and reinforces established power structures. Breaking free from those dynamics is what defines this third phase.

Effective cultural transformation requires interventions on all three levels: the arena, mindset and behaviour. Change at one level only won’t last. The layers need to connect and reinforce one another. It’s better to choose a few, sharply targeted interventions than to scatter your energy across dozens of initiatives.

Arena interventions

These are aimed at shifting the balance of power, changing who holds influence and how decisions are made. That can mean giving new people more say, reassigning formal or informal leaders, or redefining their role or relocating them within the organisation. Another route is to give more way to the change coalition, formed in the previous phase. Make this coalition more visible and influential. When choosing members of this coalition, look for people who naturally embody the mindset and behaviours that fit the desired culture. They become living examples of what the future should look like.

Mindset interventions

These target the shared assumptions and beliefs that limit innovation or reinforce the status quo. Such assumptions can be deeply rooted. Take, for instance, the belief that employees don’t show initiative. That idea may have developed during a difficult economic period when people were afraid to take risks or suggest new ideas. It once made sense but now blocks progress. You’ll recognise these patterns when you hear reactions like “That’s not how we do things here” or “Our people wouldn’t go for that”.

Ways to challenge and reframe these mental models include:

• Dialogue sessions: Teams openly explore their underlying assumptions.
• Bringing in fresh perspectives: Invite clients, partners or new colleagues to share candid feedback.
• Storytelling and metaphors: A new narrative can reshape meaning and open minds.
• Reframing: Turn limiting beliefs into opportunities. For example, “We’re too small to compete” becomes “Because we’re small, we can adapt faster.”

Changing mindsets takes time. One workshop won’t do it. Build in regular moments where old and new beliefs are explicitly compared and discussed.

Behavioural interventions

These focus on helping people practice the new culture. Old habits are hard to break because they’ve been rewarded in the past, are linked to previous successes, or simply have no obvious alternatives.

Research in behavioural science (Skinner, Wilk & Redmon, Locke & Latham) shows that change is most effective when multiple interventions work together. Proven strategies include:

• Feedback: give regular, concrete, short-cycle feedback, daily or weekly works far better than annual reviews.
• Recognition and reward: celebrate desired behaviour visibly, through praise, bonuses or increased autonomy.
• Goal setting: set ambitious but realistic goals and make success criteria clear to everyone.
• Antecedents: use reminders, visual cues or short training bursts to prompt new behaviour.
• Experimentation: create safe “learning zones” where people can try new approaches without fear of failure.
• Benchmarking: visit teams or organisations that already demonstrate the desired way of working.

The combination of feedback, positive reinforcement and goal setting has proven particularly powerful in sustaining new behaviours.

Phase 4. Strengthening the new subculture

Once the first signs of change start to take root, something new begins to emerge: a subculture, a group of people who already think and work in a different way. That’s encouraging, but it’s also fragile. Early momentum can fade quickly if it isn’t nurtured. In this phase, the first visible shifts in the organisational arena appear: new culture bearers are emerging, and their influence begins to grow. At the same time, representatives of the old culture still hold sway. New ways of thinking are taking shape, but they’re not yet fully coherent. New work practices are being tested, but they’re not yet established habits.

This stage is about reinforcing what’s emerging and reducing the pull of the old order. Managers play a crucial role here: they must protect, support and amplify the new voices that embody the desired culture. That might mean giving them more responsibility, visibility or influence within the organisation. Expect resistance. Established players will often try to reclaim lost ground. Sceptics will highlight every setback as proof that the old way worked better. That’s why this phase is about two things: strengthening what is emerging in the new culture and reducing the influence of the old order.

Here are some interventions that help consolidate the new subculture:

• Create physical proximity. Bring the new culture bearers together in a shared workspace or project area. Being close to one another accelerates informal exchange and builds cohesion. Over time, they’ll start to see themselves as “the new generation” that’s making the organisation fit for the future.
• Solve real problems together. Connect the new way of working to visible, practical successes. When the new group tackles long-standing organisational issues effectively, their credibility — and arena position — grows.
• Introduce and communicate a new definition of success: in other words, what constitutes the new successful behaviour.
• Communicate progress regularly. Not with one-off newsletters, but through a steady rhythm of updates that share results, learning and obstacles. Use showcases, tangible examples that others can visit or experience firsthand.

The goal of this phase is to tilt the balance of power in favour of those representing the new culture. But avoid painting the “old guard” as the enemy. That can damage relationships and slow progress.

Phase 5. Stabilising the new culture

In this final phase, the new culture begins to take hold across other parts of the organisation. What once felt uncertain or experimental becomes the norm. The fragile subculture that emerged earlier grows into the dominant culture, the way things are now done.

The priority here is consolidation and continuity. Without deliberate reinforcement, old habits can quietly resurface. The challenge is to make the new culture visible, credible, and sustainable.

Interventions that support stabilisation include:

• Promote culture bearers into formal leadership roles. Give those who truly embody the new culture a seat at the decision-making table. Their presence in senior positions sends a strong signal that the change is real.
• Onboard new employees accordingly. Introduce newcomers to the organisation’s updated values, ways of working, and collaboration styles from day one.
• Embed successes in systems and rituals. Translate early wins into new routines — weekly stand-ups, recognition moments, learning events, or internal symbols that reflect the new identity.
• Align HR policies (appraisals, promotions) with the new definition of success.
• Strengthen the brand from within. Use internal campaigns, visual identity, or even events and conferences to make the renewed culture tangible and proud.
• Monitor and measure. A simple culture dashboard can track progress and highlight risks before they grow.
• Anchor the new culture in policy. Update codes of conduct, recruitment practices, promotion criteria and performance reviews to reflect the desired behaviours.

Choosing better, not doing more

Cultural change isn’t about adding more programmes, slogans, or grand initiatives. It’s about making conscious choices. Seeing clearly where the real friction lies, intervening precisely there, and ensuring that actions across levels and departments reinforce each other. For more insight into designing an effective mix of interventions, you can use this checklist.

Managers and HR professionals don’t need to carry the whole process themselves. Their role is to set direction, create connection, remove barriers, and make progress visible.

When that happens, change stops being a paper exercise and becomes a real movement, not loud and spectacular, but tangible, grounded and lasting.