Culture by Design: Exploring Six Types That Shape Organizations

As I put the final touches on my book Organizing for Impact, I found myself reflecting on a section that feels especially timely in which I discuss six types of cultures I have encountered in the workplace. In a world where back-to-the-office mandates are tightening their grip, DEI initiatives face increasing pushback, and mass layoffs have become unsettlingly routine, the work environment is becoming more oppressive by the day. But here’s the thing—culture is a choice. Leaders shape it, intentionally or not, and their decisions ripple across every level of an organization.

The Spectrum of Organizational Culture

From my own experience and research, I can classify culture by how the organization is structured to deliver value. I use a scale that represents the relationship between the value an organization delivers through its products or services and the level of engagement experienced by the people doing the work. Each culture is rated using a ratio (e.g., 3:1), where the first number reflects the level of value created, and the second represents the level of employee engagement.

• Value (1–4): This measure measures the quality, impact, or meaningfulness of the organization’s products or services. A score of 1 indicates low or inconsistent value, while 4 reflects a consistently high value and meaningful impact.
• Engagement (1–4): This score indicates how connected, motivated, and empowered employees feel about their work. A score of 1 represents disengagement or burnout, while a 4 signals high levels of purpose, autonomy, and enthusiasm.

The ratio helps illustrate how some organizations may generate moderate or even high value despite low engagement (often through unsustainable practices) while others achieve both high value and high engagement through healthier, more adaptive cultures. In ascending levels of value to engagement, I classify them as follows:

1. Treadmill Culture (2:1): High output, low engagement. The operational model behind the Treadmill Culture is typically hierarchical and organized by siloed functions that usually don’t cross-collaborate (but when they have to, they struggle with it). This one focuses on churning out as much as possible to maximize revenues and minimize costs, and people feel like cogs in a machine. The people’s experience there is one of powerlessness (unless you are higher in the hierarchy), resignation, and boredom. The value of the products and services produced under such levels of engagement are middling at best.
   
2. Performance Culture (3:2): Driven by competition and fear. The structure behind this culture also seeks to maximize revenues. Still, instead of grinding people day after day, they put people and teams into competition with each other. This is usually accomplished by offering incentives, like bonuses and promotions, to high achievers. Sometimes, such benefits are only offered to middle managers or higher, which creates a combination of Performance and Treadmill cultures. The general feeling here is one of fear. People must compete (or figure out a way to game the system) to achieve and advance, so there is, first and foremost, the fear of losing one’s bonus. Then there is the likelihood that leaders there lead from a place of fear–fear of making the wrong decision (which tends to cause them to hoard power rather than share it), fear of not hitting a target, fear of trust–which leads to an overall lack of trust and an abundance of suspicion.
   
   People in this culture may be a little more engaged than the Treadmillers because they can win incentives and find the competition exhilarating. Still, this kind of culture tends to reward the privileged who are higher up the ladder or can work longer hours because they don’t have a family to take care of, or are more persuasive and influential in playing politics. In any case, there tend to be divides in how people perceive the culture: they are either happy because they are benefitting as winners, or they are miserable because they are the ones who don’t make the performance cut, instilling yet another kind of fear into the environment.
   
   The Treadmill and Performance Cultures are more likely to create a toxic culture, but there are others I would consider more on the net positive culture side. In these next three types, empowerment starts to get real for people, and that’s a big factor in whether a culture is healthy.
   
3. Service Culture (4:3): Mission-driven and purpose-filled. This is the mission-driven, often not-for-profit organization that measures its success in the good they do or the impact it achieves rather than the profit it makes. This inherently breeds passion for the mission and a sense of purpose, which are more motivating, according to research, than money. Leadership tends to be more democratic, so decision-making is often more communal and consent-based, which provides some sense of empowerment to staff.
   
   You might think that people in these environments are always happy doing something that resonates with their values, and they tend to work hard to get the best outcomes for their clients. Such organizations, in many cases, operate on tight budgets. While they may provide good benefits, including maybe even shorter work weeks, they may not be able to hire enough people to spread the burden of work around equitably or invest in technology and support infrastructures that could help them be more efficient and effective. Burnout is thus a common ailment in Service Cultures. I’ve seen burnout even happen to people who have plenty of vacation time and extra mental health days and benefits to utilize but feel so obligated to their responsibilities that they can’t step away. I have also heard complaints from people about pay not being commensurate with the same roles in corporate environments, development opportunities being limited, and skill development being stifled by a lack of modern tools and processes. When present all at once, these feelings can spread disengagement quickly.
   
4. Customer Culture (4:3): Customer-centric with empowered front-line teams. Like the Service Culture, the Customer Culture is customer-centric, which means people at the front lines are empowered to provide the necessary service when needed. While revenues are still a central goal in such organizations, customer happiness is held as equally important. Processes support people in making front-line decisions that help make the customer happy. Product and service development puts the customer at the center of the equation. Understanding the people being served generally leads to more inclusivity in the customer base. This extends to company values and how the brand is perceived in the world. People who work at companies where the values are lived and expressed through action usually feel a sense of pride and belonging when those values resonate with their own. This exemplifies how a strong sense of purpose can drive engagement.
   
5. Innovation Culture (3:4): High engagement through experimentation and autonomy. This culture is most commonly found in startups, where the organization may be flatter, and people wear more hats. The engagement is high because they all work together to build something new and have a lot of space and safety to experiment. People and teams often have much more decision-making capabilities when trying new things and directions. On the value side, however, there is a higher chance of being unable to build or deliver the product or service in the form or timeline for the business to get traction or not run out of money. The pressure can become high in an innovation culture, especially when investors and competitors are demanding quick results. This can lead to burnout. I have also seen highly talented individuals clash with each other in this type of culture when they disagree and want to take different paths. If these kinds of tensions are persistently present in such a culture, psychological safety can erode, and people might become disillusioned and seek other employment.
   
6. Evolutionary Culture (4:4): A self-managing, people-positive environment where trust, autonomy, and shared purpose thrive. This self-managing environment is built on trust through agreements and shared decision-making processes. People in this environment are fully empowered to do what they think is right within the scope of their roles, creating a high-engagement culture. People are encouraged and given space to pursue personal and professional development, and changing roles over time is common. Giving people the chance to exercise their capabilities and be their authentic selves brings the best out of them from a performance standpoint. This culture is the holy grail for me, as it results in both high engagement and high-quality value delivery.

Why the Evolutionary Culture Stands Apart

While each culture has its own dynamics, the Evolutionary Culture represents the pinnacle of what organizations can achieve. It fosters both high engagement and high value, creating an environment where people are not just working but thriving. This isn’t about utopian ideals; it’s about practical, proven practices that unlock the full potential of both the organization and its people.

In an Evolutionary Culture:

• Trust is foundational, built through clear agreements and shared decision-making.
• Autonomy isn’t a buzzword; it’s embedded in how people approach their roles.
• Growth is continuous, with personal and professional development woven into the fabric of work.
• Authenticity is celebrated, allowing individuals to bring their whole selves to the table.

This approach is better for employees and the businesses they serve, making it people-positive rather than people-exploitive. Organizations with high engagement see increased productivity, lower turnover, and greater innovation. Impact isn’t just a metric; it becomes a lived experience.

The Power of Choice

Given the current climate, it’s easy to feel like oppressive work environments are inevitable. But they’re not. Culture doesn’t happen by accident; it happens by design. Leaders have the power to choose differently and to create spaces where people feel valued, heard, and empowered.

At Transformetic, we specialize in helping organizations make that choice. Through our consulting services, workshops, and transformation programs, we guide leaders and teams in cultivating Evolutionary Cultures that deliver real impact for their businesses and their people.

So, as we face a world that often feels like it’s regressing, let’s choose to move forward. Let’s choose cultures of trust, growth, and purpose. Because when we do, we don’t just create better workplaces; we create better futures.