The company said it valued autonomy and responsibility. They told people, “we treat you like a professional” and they meant it.
But their processes and systems said something different.
Sue was an employee there. She submitted a PTO request for a family trip, and it sat on her manager’s desk for a week. The manager would normally approve it quickly, but they were busy with project meetings and client issues. The email got buried.
It was a long week for Sue. She couldn’t commit to her family, finalize plans, or buy plane tickets. All she could do was wait.
The Gap That Erodes Culture
You might think culture gets shaped by leadership messaging, value statements, or town halls. That’s part of it, but what shapes culture on a daily basis is the paths your systems create. People follow those paths, even when they don’t match the language of leadership.
This shows up fast when you’re growing. What worked at 50 people doesn’t work at 200. You want a culture of trust, ownership, and autonomy. You’ve stated your values clearly and communicated them repeatedly. But, as you’ve grown, the values start to feel a little empty and culture initiatives don’t seem to stick.
The frustration is legitimate. You’re sincere and you’re doing the work, but something isn’t translating. The problem usually isn’t the people. It’s the gap between what you’re saying and what your systems communicate.
What Happens When You Close the Gap
We had this exact problem with PTO when I was HR director. We said “we trust you to be professional,” but the approval system made managers the gatekeeper. The system contradicted the culture we were trying to build.
So, we switched to auto-approval. Employees submitted PTO and it populated calendars immediately. The system sent reminders to project managers so they had visibility, but it removed the bottleneck. Managers loved it because they got back time and stopped feeling horrible when they didn’t respond in time. Employees felt trusted and respected.
Nobody abused it. The culture didn’t collapse. Unexpectedly, it became a recruiting advantage. When candidates asked about our culture, we didn’t just tell them we valued autonomy, we showed them. We demonstrated a system that made autonomy the default.
How Systems Can Enhance Your Culture, Not Undermine It
You can say “autonomy” all day, but if your system requires approval, it undermines the message. Culture is shaped by the systems that encode it, not the messaging that describes it.
If your culture initiatives aren’t sticking, stop looking at your messaging and start looking at the operational processes. Not the big systems or strategic initiatives, but the small stuff you don’t think about like expense approval, project decisions, and communication expectations.
Look for the gaps between your stated values and the experience your systems actually create. Where do you say “we trust people” but the system says “get approval”? Where do you say “take ownership” but the system requires three signatures? Where do you say “move fast” but the process takes two weeks?
If you’re an executive, examine those operational systems. Not so you can exert more control, but to find friction that contradicts your culture. Small system changes can reinforce culture more effectively than big initiatives ever will.
If you’re a manager, you’re the one best positioned to spot the inconsistencies. You live in the friction every day. You know which systems make it hard to support the culture you’ve been asked to honor. That insight matters. Ask yourself: what’s one system change that would make our stated values more evident?
People follow the path of least resistance, every time. If that path contradicts your stated values, the path wins. You can’t talk your way to a better culture, but you can build one, one system at a time.