Is Your Culture Drifting?
So, what’s normal on your team?
How would you describe the way you do things together to accomplish your goals?
Every team develops norms. Some are intentional. Others simply emerge over time. We begin meetings a certain way. We respond to email in certain ways. We decide who speaks first, who gets interrupted, how conflict is handled, and what gets celebrated. Little by little, these repeated behaviors become 'just how we do things.'
This isn't necessarily bad. Shared norms help teams move more efficiently and create a sense of belonging. In fact, one of my favorite leadership practices is helping teams create a Team Agreement—a conscious conversation about how we want to work together. We might identify the behaviors that support trust, healthy accountability, thoughtful communication, and respect. We don't simply hope those things happen; we name them and practice them.
But here's what I've learned: Even the healthiest teams drift.
A meeting starts five minutes late...then ten. Difficult conversations get postponed because everyone is busy. Curiosity gives way to assumption. Listening becomes waiting for your turn to speak. Urgency quietly replaces intention. No one decides this should happen. It simply does.
Think of this as organizational drift. Left unattended, every culture slowly moves away from what it originally intended. It's a little like tending a garden. You don't plant it once and assume it will flourish forever. You return. You pull weeds. You prune. You notice what needs attention before small problems become larger ones.
That's why I encourage every team I work with to schedule regular tune-ups. Not because something is wrong, but because healthy cultures require tending.
A tune-up isn't about assigning blame. It’s about calibration and realignment. It's about asking better questions.
• What have we normalized that is helping us?
• What have we normalized that no longer serves us?
• What part of our Team Agreement have we slowly drifted away from?
• What do we want our 'new normal' to be?
Teams usually know what needs attention. The wisdom is in the room. They simply need permission to say it out loud, to be respectfully honest, and to create hope about getting back on track.
The work of creating the team cultures we want is never finished. It is always being reinforced—or quietly rewritten—through the behaviors we repeat every day. The good news is that drift works both ways. Just as we can unintentionally normalize hurry, exhaustion, or avoidance, we can intentionally normalize generosity, candor, curiosity, and trust.
The future of your culture isn’t determined by one inspiring off-site, one productive retreat, or one memorable keynote. It will be shaped by the ordinary moments that follow.
So perhaps the better question isn't, 'How's our culture?' but perhaps it's this: ‘What's becoming normal around here?’
Make sure that your behaviors are matching up with your intentions—closing that gap is how we protect the drift!
If you suspect your team has quietly developed habits that are getting in the way of the culture you want, let’s talk.
I work with leaders and teams to uncover what’s happening beneath the surface and turn good intentions into ways of working that actually stick!! Schedule a conversation and let’s see if we can’t bring things into the light: My calendar , or send me a message here.
