Culture is broken in many modern workplaces because businesses prioritised surface-level perks over the fundamental alignment of how people actually think, work, and collaborate.
Key takeaways
- Modern workplace culture often fails because it focuses on social activities rather than deep cognitive alignment and work preferences.
- A broken culture manifests as high turnover, low engagement, and persistent conflict between different work personality types.
- Fixing a fractured culture requires moving beyond generic values to understanding the specific work actions that drive high performance.
- Data-driven insights into team dynamics allow leaders to bridge gaps between diverse roles, such as Pioneers and Auditors.
We have all seen the signs: the expensive espresso machine sits dusty while staff turnover hits record highs, and the 'open-door policy' results in nothing but silence. When we say culture is broken, we aren't talking about a lack of Friday drinks or a missing ping-pong table. We are talking about the fundamental disconnect between how a company says it operates and how employees actually experience their daily work.
The problem is that for too long, 'culture' has been treated as a marketing exercise rather than an operational reality. We’ve built environments based on what looks good on a recruitment brochure, neglecting the invisible gears that actually make a team turn. When these gears don't mesh – when a visionary leader clashes with a detail-oriented team without a shared language – the machinery of the business grinds to a halt. To fix this, we need to stop looking at culture as a 'feeling' and start looking at it as a measurable set of behaviours and preferences.
One of the primary reasons culture is broken is our obsession with 'cultural fit'. In theory, it sounds great – hiring people who share our values. In practice, it often leads to a 'mini-me' syndrome where we hire people who think exactly like us. This creates a dangerous echo chamber where innovation dies and blind spots go unnoticed. True culture isn't about being identical; it’s about being complementary.
At Compono, we believe that a healthy culture is built on cognitive diversity. When you only hire one type of person, you miss out on the essential friction that sparks new ideas. For example, a team full of Pioneers will have a thousand brilliant ideas but might struggle to finish a single task. Conversely, a team of only Auditors will be incredibly accurate but may fail to adapt to a changing market. The fix isn't finding people who 'fit in' – it's finding people who 'add to' the collective intelligence of the group.
Many leaders realise their culture is broken and immediately reach for an annual engagement survey. While well-intentioned, these surveys are often like checking the weather once a year and expecting to understand the climate. They capture a moment in time, often influenced by recent events, rather than the underlying health of the organisation. Furthermore, they tell you *that* people are unhappy, but rarely *why* or how to fix it at a team level.
To move beyond surface-level metrics, we need to look at the Compono Culture, Engagement & Performance Model. This model recognises that engagement is the result of how individuals interact with their work and their colleagues every day. If an employee feels their natural work preferences are constantly being stifled – such as a Helper being forced into a highly aggressive, competitive sales role – no amount of 'engagement initiatives' will fix the resulting burnout. Culture is fixed when we align the right work personality with the right work actions.
When culture is broken, it usually shows up as friction. This friction isn't always loud; sometimes it’s the quiet resentment of a Doer who feels their time is being wasted by a Campaigner who won't stop 'blue-sky' thinking. These are not personality clashes in the traditional sense – they are misalignments in work preferences. Each of these individuals is trying to do a good job, but they are speaking different languages.
Consider a scenario where a manager is an Evaluator, focused on logic and efficiency, leading a team of Advisors who value collaboration and empathy. Without understanding these natural tendencies, the manager might appear blunt or dismissive, while the team might seem indecisive to the manager. By using the Compono platform, leaders can visualise these dynamics, allowing them to bridge the gap and turn potential conflict into a high-performing partnership. This is how we move from a broken culture to one of mutual respect and efficiency.
Fixing a broken culture requires a shift from reactive to proactive management. It starts with the hiring process. Instead of guessing if someone will work well with the team, we can use data to see exactly how they will contribute. Compono Hire helps you assess candidates across three critical dimensions: Organisation Fit, Job Fit, and Personality Fit, ensuring that every new hire strengthens the cultural fabric rather than tearing it.
Once the right people are in the building, the work doesn't stop. We must continuously develop our understanding of how the team evolves. As teams scale or projects change, the 'cultural debt' can pile up. Regularly checking in on team design and ensuring that all eight essential work activities – from Evaluating to Doing – are being covered is vital for long-term health. When everyone understands their role and values the different contributions of their peers, the culture stops being 'broken' and starts becoming a competitive advantage.
Key insights
- Culture is an operational reality defined by how people collaborate and execute tasks, not just a set of values on a wall.
- Cognitive diversity is superior to 'cultural fit' because it ensures all 8 essential work activities are represented in a team.
- Friction often arises from misunderstood work personalities rather than personal animosity, requiring a shared language for resolution.
- Data-driven hiring and development are the only sustainable ways to prevent cultural debt and maintain high performance as a company scales.
Culture doesn't have to stay broken. By moving away from guesswork and embracing people intelligence, you can build a workplace where everyone thrives.
Common signs include high employee turnover, a 'blame culture' where people avoid responsibility, siloed departments that refuse to collaborate, and a general sense of apathy during team meetings. If your employees are meeting the 'letter' of their job description but not the 'spirit' of the organisation, your culture likely needs attention.
Yes, but it requires more than a memo from the CEO. It involves a deep dive into team dynamics and a willingness to change how you hire, manage, and communicate. Using tools like Compono Engage can provide the necessary insights to identify where the friction lies and provide actionable steps for leaders to rebuild trust and alignment.
Not exactly. Culture is the environment and the 'way we do things around here', while engagement is how an individual feels about their place within that environment. You can have a strong culture that an individual isn't engaged with, but it is very difficult to have high engagement in a broken culture.
Personality dictates our natural work preferences – what we enjoy doing and what we tend to avoid. A culture is essentially the sum of all these individual personalities interacting. When these interactions are misunderstood, culture breaks. When they are harnessed, the culture becomes high-performing.
Remote work removes many of the physical cues we use to understand culture, making intentionality even more important. In a digital environment, having a clear understanding of your team's work personalities is even more critical because you can't rely on 'office vibes' to smooth over miscommunications.