The bias that blinds us to ourselves

Self-serving bias, a deeply ingrained cognitive tendency, lies at the heart of the culture problem. It blinds us to our own contributions, making it difficult to recognise our own role in pervasive business problems. Rather than addressing the root causes within ourselves, we seek external excuses, avoiding the uncomfortable self-reflection needed to drive meaningful change.

People’s reluctance to own their problems has been extensively documented by experts like the late Professor emeritus of education and organizational behavior Chris Argyris, Professor Ajit Varky, a Professor of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Dr. Danny Brower, a geneticist. Varky and Browereven claim that the human species’ capacity for denial may be our greatest differentiating factor from the rest of the animal kingdom.

Yet, despite being a widely recognised problem, people remain the elephant in the room. Even in 2025, we still tend to blame the system for derailing us. However, culture is a system upheld by people, where individuals are the ones who hold themselves—or others—back, with the system playing a secondary role.

Values won’t cut it: The real blockers are in daily operations

Our obsession with values is another derailer. CEOs struggle to see how lofty, abstract values translate into tangible business outcomes—how they generate revenue or reduce costs.

Meanwhile, in the trenches, the daily grind remains untouched for both leaders and employees. The same inefficiencies and frustrations persist, leaving values as an unattainable ideal, out of touch with the realities of daily operations.

The truth is, the inefficiencies, missed opportunities, and real obstacles holding companies back cannot be solved with aspirational posters, videos, or events. They reside in core business processes and daily operations, which don’t care about written values.

Four pragmatic, business-driven questions to addressing the unspeakable

These four questions will guide you on a journey to address the real culture problem and determine if you’re truly ready for it.

1. Do we have a culture problem?

2. Why do we have a it?

3. What does it take to fix it?

4. What is the expected outcome?

At first glance, these questions may seem harmless. But the deeper you dig, the more uncomfortable they become when you seek the real root causes.

Do we have a culture problem?

Answering to the first question is easy: A culture problem exists if an organisation is unable to read the market and respond effectively. Key signs include:

• Leading with false assumptions: Being blind to or disconnected from both external and internal realities.
• Pulling in different directions: Lack of a shared understanding of the business environment or strategy.
• Paralysed at the crossroads:Inability to make the decisions needed to continuously adapt to market demands or pivot past choices.
• Quick to fall behind, slow to change: Lack of urgency and failure to execute effectively.
• Losing top talent: Failure to nurture, attract, or retain the talent critical for future success.

As a result, the teams underperform in critical areas of business. The gap between market demands and what the organisation delivers widens, putting both competitiveness and long-term prospects at risk.

Why do we have it?

The second question takes you into the realm of cultural sacred cows. The uncomfortable truth is that the competitiveness and long-term success are at risk because of “you”. This comes down to:

• Gaps in critical hard skills needed to excel in key business areas.
• Ingrained, outdated thought processes and unproductive, even destructive behavioural patternspeople repeatedly use in everyday activities like sense-making, communication, teamwork, decision-making, and prioritisation.

Competing goals, misaligned incentives, outdated systems, and failed projects are all manifestations of a culture upheld by people. As Peter Thiel

Competing goals, misaligned incentives, outdated systems and failed projects are simply manifestations of a culture upheld by people. As Peter Thiel puts it, companies can only remain competitive if they are adaptive, and they can only be adaptive if their people are.

The true barrier to business outcomes and shareholder satisfaction isn’t a lack of hard skills, but two strategic people skills: learning and collaboration. Fear of the unknown and an inability to withstand discomfort hinder people from updating their hard skills. Meanwhile, the organisation’s reputation may prevent it from attracting talent with the right combination of expertise and a ‘we-can-do’ attitude.

Indeed, an organisation’s competitiveness and future trajectory depend heavily on whether its leaders and employees act as Open-minded team players, Lone change agents, Loyal resistors, or Toxic saboteurs.

What does it take to fix it?

Culture is always learned, and leaders are its headmasters, setting the tone and standards for the organisation through their actions. As hyper-social creatures, we are wired to learn from our leaders. (Culture building in the era of hybrid work is a topic for a separate in-depth article—find a surface-level overview here).

Leaders’ behaviours and decisions signal about what is valued and rewarded. It is the leaders who shape whether their people’s professional identity aligns with that of an Open-minded team player, Lone change agent, Loyal resistor, or Toxic saboteur.

Consequently, culture challenges can be addressed, and culture investments will drive tangible business outcomes if leaders:

1. Identify shared patterns of thought and behaviour

Analyse and articulate how your organisation operates in practice—what patterns of thought and behaviour drive success and what undermine it—within the context of your vision, strategy, and current challenges.

2. Pinpoint critical problem areas

Detect the functions and core processes where harmful patterns hinder performance and business outcomes. Identify the human-driven activities—such as sense-making, decision-making, prioritisation, and problem-solving—that are at their root.

3. Clarify the behavioural shift needed

Define what patterns to stop and what to start doing to align behaviours with strategic goals and resolve core business issues.

4. Link behaviours to measurable business outcomes

Demonstrate how everyday actions—at every level—impact key KPIs, creating buy-in and motivating meaningful change.

5. Recalibrate and lead by example

Recalibrate leadership behaviours and role model the target behaviours to establish credibility and drive cultural alignment from the top.

6. Empower key influencers to run simulation trials

Equip key people in critical functions, areas, and projects with “cognitive, emotional and behavioural hacks” to run problem-solving trials that simulate previous challenges. These trials enable participants to apply new ways of working to familiar problems and experience the potential of the change first-hand.

7. Operationalise cultural shifts through team leaders

Provide all team leaders with tactics and tools to drive change where work happens—within their functional teams and sub-cultures. Align their teams’ ways of working—thought patterns, behaviours, methods, and routines—to improve team performance and drive better business outcomes. Ensure the desired culture is adapted and embedded into the unique contexts of each area.

8. Reinforce and adapt

Continuously monitor progress, adjust strategies as required, and cultivate ownership across the organisation to ensure the change becomes deeply ingrained and sustainable.

9. Create feedback loops

Establish regular mechanisms to track progress, gather insights, and refine the approach, ensuring alignment with the desired cultural transformation and maintaining momentum over time.

An contextual, human-centric approach to culture empowers leaders and change-makers to tackle inefficiencies and resistance to change from a fresh perspective. Thought and behavioural patterns are recalibrated where work is done—in daily operations, where real decisions and actions unfold.

What is the Expected Outcome?

The fourth question tests your commitment to culture. When leaders view specific cognitive, emotional, and behavioural people skills as integral to their business strategy, the message is clear:

“This is our new “human operating system,” designed to recalibrate how we think, decide, and behave to align with current market demands and serve the best interests of the business. We expect you to integrate into it, and we will support you in making this shift.

Adapting your ways of working will not only enhance your professional value but also improve the work environment. If you hold a business-critical role and fail to adapt, you’re out.”

When culture — the expected and shared thought and behavioural patterns — becomes a strategic asset, linked to improving team performance and driving business outcomes, it determines who gets hired, promoted, and let go.