Why do we still not understand what organizational culture is, and why does that hold back transformation?

🧭 Why is it still so hard for us to define what organizational culture is?

The expression “organizational culture” appears everywhere in business settings: in leadership speeches, strategic plans, talent conversations, and transformation initiatives. Yet when we try to define it precisely, the answers are often vague, abstract, or even contradictory.

We talk about culture all the time, but rarely agree on what it really means. We describe it by what it is not, we fall back on blurry analogies like “we’re a family,” and we stay in inspiring ideas that never turn into real behaviors. The result: each organization builds its own interpretation, often disconnected from its essence and from everyday reality.

This lack of clarity is not a minor issue. Thousands of companies invest resources in “cultural transformations” without truly knowing what they are transforming. And when the concept is fuzzy, actions lose meaning. Symptoms get confused with causes, and culture ends up being an empty speech instead of a living practice.

From the perspective of theorist Joan Costa, “corporate culture emerges from institutional identity and is conceptually defined in terms of Mission, Vision, and Values. Cultural identity is at the center of the 21st-century paradigm and is expressed in the word ‘HOW’.”

That word — how — is the key.
Culture is, at its core, the way we do things when no one is watching.

It doesn’t live on murals, manuals, or written values. It lives in everyday behaviors, in spontaneous decisions, in how teams talk to each other, and in how uncertainty is faced.

Understanding this requires leaders and communicators to take on a different role: not as guardians of the message, but as architects of experiences. Defining culture is not a theoretical exercise — it is a strategic decision that determines how communication, leadership, and daily routines are aligned inside the organization.

In a context shaped by artificial intelligence and accelerated change, having a clear and conscious culture is no longer a luxury; it is a vital necessity. Technology can optimize processes, but only a strong culture can guarantee coherence, trust, and humanity.

Defining culture is an act of organizational introspection. It means looking inward with honesty, discovering that how that defines us, and building from there an authentic way of being.

Because if we are not able to define it clearly, we will never be able to truly transform it.

✨ Final reflection:

Every organization has a culture. The difference lies in whether that culture is being lived consciously or merely declared with good intentions.

👉 Does your company truly define what its culture is, or does it just talk about it without ever making it concrete?

The first step toward sustainable transformation is not to change what you do today, but to define who you are as an organization.