The C-word: Culture, complexity and the human factor

Culture is often treated as a backdrop - something static, atmospheric, and confusingly important. But when you look closer, culture is the living, breathing outcome of how people relate, respond, and adapt. It’s not just what we say we value; it’s how we behave under pressure, how we make sense of ambiguity, and how we protect ourselves when things feel unsafe.

In my work with boards, in national policy influencing and in public-purpose organisations, I’ve seen how culture is shaped not by slogans or surveys, but by the messy, emotional, and relational realities of work. If we want to influence culture, we need to understand what’s really going on beneath the surface. I outlined seven oft-missed reality checks recently and previously wrote about how culture can be overly simplified. This blog goes into a little more detail. Here are some deeper truths - and risks - that people must grapple with in the workplace.

Culture is emergent, not engineered

Culture isn’t a lever you pull or a programme you roll out. It’s a construct that emerges from group interactions over time. It’s shaped by context, history, and the survival strategies that have helped people get through. That means today’s culture - however flawed - has had utility. It’s served a purpose. Before we rush to change it, we need to be curious about what it’s protecting, what it’s resisting, what it’s assisting and what it’s trying to preserve.

This is why imposed models often fail. Culture can’t be copy-pasted from another organisation or conjured through a campaign. It must be understood from the inside, through curiosity and reflection. As Edgar Schein warned decades ago, culture is not a homogenous entity - it’s dynamic, diverse, and deeply contextual.

Beware the pitfalls of reductionism

One of the most common mistakes is treating culture as a collective of individual traits. We break it down into behaviours, attitudes, and competencies, hoping that if we fix each part, the whole will improve. But culture is about interaction, not isolation. It’s the relational field - the way people respond to each other, to systems, and to uncertainty.

Reductionist approaches ignore this. They focus on the parts, not the patterns. They miss the fact that culture is a property of the group, not the sum of its individuals. And they often reinforce the very dynamics they’re trying to change - by over-emphasising control, certainty, and compliance.

Fear, anxiety and the desire for control

Culture change stirs emotion. Uncertainty triggers fear, and fear triggers defences. At the individual level, we intellectualise, rationalise, deny, or project. At the group level, we idealise leaders, scapegoat colleagues, or retreat into groupthink. These defences aren’t failures - they’re protective mechanisms. But they can block learning, distort reality, and entrench dysfunction.

People must learn to recognise these dynamics and name them without blame. They must create space for emotional reality, not just factual analysis. Because when anxiety is overwhelming, people don’t engage - they defend. And when defences dominate, culture becomes rigid, reactive, and resistant to change. An organisation, department or team can benefit from considering how it is helping to contain anxiety (not ignoring or smoothing it all away).

The role of the primary task

Isabel Menzies Lyth’s work reminds us that every organisation has a primary task - the reason it exists. But in complex systems, that task is often unclear, contested, or in tension with other priorities. When the primary task is confused or undermined, psychosocial satisfaction declines. People feel lost, conflicted, and anxious. Dysfunction follows.

Effective culture work starts with clarifying the task. What are we really here to do? What tensions must we hold? What boundaries must we protect? Leaders who can define and defend the primary task - while acknowledging its emotional implications - create the conditions for culture to evolve.

Power, conflict and the politics of change

Culture is neutral but culture change never is. It involves power - who holds it, who loses it, and how it’s exercised. Sometimes, culture is weaponised: used to blame frontline staff for systemic failures or to mask control as empowerment. Sometimes, it’s used to avoid deeper reflection - becoming a convenient label for everything and nothing.

Real change requires confronting these dynamics. It means recognising that conflict is inevitable, that emotions are part of decision-making, and that grief often accompanies transformation. It means asking not just “What do we want to change?” but “Whose interests are served by this change - and whose are threatened?”

Supporting a curious and appropriately risk-tolerant culture

So, what helps? Psychological safety. A willingness to learn from failure. Leadership that empowers rather than directs. Structures that support experimentation, not just performance. And a mindset that values how we work as much as what we deliver.

Curiosity thrives when people feel safe to speak up, challenge norms, and explore new ideas. Risk tolerance grows when failure is seen as learning, not punishment. And innovation flourishes when leaders model vulnerability, adaptability, and strategic kindness. We know this, but it’s more often what is said than done. That is what I believe makes the difference, and the health system as a whole – at every level, top to bottom - must walk this talk.

Final thoughts: culture as a human system

Culture isn’t a technical problem - it’s a human one. It’s shaped by emotion, history, power and relationship. And it changes not through control, but through connection.

If you’re leading change in a complex system, don’t just ask “How do we shift culture?” Ask “What does our current culture protect?” “What fears and defences are at play?” “How do our structures shape interaction?” and “What kind of emotional reality are we willing to face?”.

Because when we work with the human system - not against it - we create cultures that are not just resilient, but can evolve.