A random collection of culture-related problems. Based on real-life experiences. Million thanks to all contributors!
Problem Safari
When people gather to watch problems like animals in a zoo, with no intention of solving them.
Toxic Niceness
When surfacing problems is a career killer.
Thought Filter
When sane, individual thoughts are suppressed in favour of not-so-sane yet acceptable ones due to groupthink.
System Belittlers
When people fail to recognise the power of systems in shaping behaviour.
Status Quo Wall
When new ideas are rejected outright, without explanation.
People Robots
When the power of hidden cognitive and emotional barriers as strategy derailers is underestimated.
Emotional Undercurrents
When negative emotions start steering the business instead of its leaders.
Internal Mini Kingdoms
When leaders mistake internal partners for external enemies.
Toxicity Normalisation
When calling out bad behaviour is seen as bad behaviour.
Perfection Chasing
When energising ideas turn into diluted drafts and motivation killers.
Energy Vampire
When people drain you dry with their total lack of empathy and endless talk.
Inefficiency Nurturers
When wasting other people’s time is seen as a virtue to be cherished.
Effectivity Mirage
When unvalidated assumptions and unchecked beliefs cause decision-makers to invest in frivolities.
Double Whammy
When leaders make things worse because they don’t understand that they don’t understand.
Lost Plot
When no one remembers why we’re doing any of this.
Me Me Me
When bosses boldly admit their true motive: your job is to make them look good. Weird — but at least it’s honest.
Burned-Out Firefighter
When firefighting becomes the default way of working.
Intentional Forgetfulness
When agreements made after long discussions are forgotten the moment people leave the meeting or close their screens.
Mariana Trench
When the gap between high-level strategy and everyday work is deep and wide, and no one seems to know how to close it.
Left Holding the Bone
When leaders dish out big asks with zero backup.
About the author
ADVISOR, STRATEGY AND CULTURE
Tintti Sarola
Tintti Sarola is a strategist, transformation lead, and culture expert who believes the journey defines the outcome. With a background as a national team-level dressage rider and a track record of podium finishes up to the European Championship level, she brings the same intensity, focus, and commitment to business as she once brought to elite sport.
Her career spans law, tech, strategy, and transformation – from her early days in contract law and IPR to leading digital transformation, business development, and culture-powered change initiatives. Tintti has helped build successful start-ups, scale family-run businesses, and reshape how established organisations think, behave, and operate.
She specialises in helping leadership teams rewire how they work – aligning strategy with behaviour, shifting entrenched patterns, and building the human systems that make change stick. Sharp on strategy and fluent in human dynamics, Tintti is known for cutting through noise, connecting the dots, and helping companies move – fast and together.
