I stole that line from a client I was working with in Orlando last week.
This particular client is a global pharmaceutical and manufacturing company in the animal health space. We were about to kick off a leadership session with their top 100 leaders, all focused on one question: How do we drive results amid change?
This meeting took place the day after what Trump proclaimed was “Liberation Day.” The administration had announced new tariffs, and this global company was waiting with bated breath to see what the impact would be. The leadership team had hoped this announcement would bring clarity, but by the time we started our meeting, on Thursday at 8:30am clarity had still escaped us. Pharma was exempt, the announcement stated, but what wasn’t clear was if that pertained only to human health, or animal health, too? We’d have to wait for the Federal Register to update to know for sure.
But this leadership team was unphased. Everyone in the room was still showing up, still leading, still moving forward, even without answers. What stood out to me wasn’t just the uncertainty—it was how normal that uncertainty had become.
And that’s the point. The very idea of “knowing what’s coming” is rooted in a playbook that no longer works. We used to believe that stability came from certainty—from having a plan, a roadmap, a destination. But in today’s world, that mindset is what actually makes us unstable.
Because real stability now comes from something else entirely: agility.
We have to stop thinking about change as something with a start and an end. The idea that we can go from point A to point B, close the loop, and stabilize? That’s over. What’s replacing it is not less stable—it’s something more powerful: the ability to continuous adapt.
For decades, the playbook looked like this: paint a vision for how to get from point A to point B. Write a communication strategy about the value of point B. Hold trainings around point B. Shift the org chart to accommodate point B. Update job descriptions to include point B. Hire point B experts. Lay off point A laggards. Move to point B and consider yourself transformed.
But that’s not how transformation works anymore. Because by the time you’ve hit point B, the market, the technology, the expectations—everything—has already shifted again to C or F.
True transformation today isn’t from point A to B. It’s a continuous evolution. That’s where our research comes in.
In collaboration with Stanford University, Culture Partners conducted a study of 243 organizations ranging from 100 to over 350,000 employees. Our research found only one culture type that was significantly correlated with increased revenue growth: adaptive cultures.
Those that could continuously adjust their culture to meet the needs of their strategy and purpose grew their revenue by 49% over a three year period. All other culture types only grew on average by 17% in that same time period. That means a people-first culture wasn’t the answer. An innovative culture wasn’t the answer. And a results-oriented culture wasn’t even the answer. We tested all of those culture types and none held a candle to the adaptive culture. That means, the key is not getting stuck in one type of culture, but rather the ability to move from one culture to the next is what works.
Too often, we still act like change is a one-time fix. Leaders think if they redesign the org structure or shift roles, they’ve “done the work.” But change without cultural alignment is just motion without momentum.
Back in Orlando, the lack of clarity around tarrifs became a gift. It gave us the perfect opening to talk about what’s actually required of leadership today:
- It’s not about forecasting better.
- It’s not about controlling every variable.
- It’s about cultivating adaptability at every level of the organization.
Agility means building a culture that knows how to respond—not react—to change. This isn’t easy work. But it’s what the best leaders are doing.
Adaptive Cultures Don’t Predict the Future—They’re Ready for It
One of our client partners, Bristol Farms, faced wave after wave of buyouts, each one bringing new leadership, new priorities, and new strategy. They tried all the typical fixes—reorgs, trainings, process changes—and got nowhere.
But once they invested in aligning their culture with the ever-changing strategy, they saw a 7.7% increase in sales and beat their stretch goals.
It wasn’t because they knew what was coming next. It was because they were ready for whatever came next. That’s agility. And therefore, that’s stability.
Elsewhere In Culture
I joined Schwab Network to unpack why the March jobs report—despite showing 228,000 new jobs, well above the 12-month average—barely made a ripple in the market. My take? Data doesn’t drive behavior—stories do. And right now, the story everyone is reacting to is uncertainty. Trade wars, tariff confusion, leadership panic. One strong data point isn’t enough to compete with a fear-driven narrative.
I shared an example from a strategy session I led this week with a pharmaceutical company navigating unclear tariff policies. Their response impressed me: “We can’t control policy, but we can control how we respond.” That’s what leadership looks like. It’s not about doing more—it’s about creating clarity, building alignment, and staying accountable. Agility is the new stability.
https://www.inc.com/ben-sherry/shopify-ceo-to-employees-use-ai-now/91173063
Shopify’s latest directive from CEO Tobi Lütke is less a suggestion and more a cultural shift in real time. By requiring employees to integrate AI into their daily workflows—and tying that usage to performance reviews—Lütke is setting a new bar for what productivity looks like in the age of intelligent tools. This isn’t just about using new software; it’s about changing how decisions are made, how prototypes are built, and even how headcount is justified. He’s pushing the company to move from optional AI experimentation to mandated AI fluency. That shift will either create exponential momentum or expose cultural fault lines, depending on how ready employees are to adapt.
What stands out here isn’t just the top-down policy—it’s the philosophy underneath. Lütke frames stagnation as “slow-motion failure,” which sounds harsh, but it’s a sentiment I’ve seen echoed across companies struggling to align their culture with rapid technological change. AI mandates like this one reveal a deeper question for every business: Are you building a culture of curiosity and experimentation, or are you just hoping people will figure it out on their own? Because curiosity can’t be mandated. It has to be modeled. If Lütke’s “GSD” mantra is about accelerating results, then success won’t come from how many tools people use—it will come from whether the culture supports bold thinking, risk-taking, and continuous learning.