Resetting Your Operating System for Growth

The Four Shifts Every Business Leader Needs to Make

In today’s volatile business landscape, culture is no longer a ‘nice to have’. It’s the operating system that determines whether your people — and your performance — can adapt, sustain and grow.

Yet many organisations are still running outdated systems. We rely on inherited behaviours, fragmented tools, and episodic efforts to drive culture. It’s time for an upgrade — one that enables people and business to grow together, with impact that lasts.

At Make It Human, we partner with forward-thinking leaders to reset their organisational operating systems for growth. This means embedding new ways of working that aren’t just inspirational — they’re embedded, repeatable, and proven to work.

Here are the four fundamental shifts required to build a culture that fuels long-term performance — and how they show up in the essential building blocks of any growth-ready organisation: Models, Skills, Habits and Tools.

This is the model we use to help leaders and their teams nurture and sustain a Growth Culture.

1. From “One and Done” to “Never Done”

(Shift the model)

Too often, culture is treated like a campaign: a new set of values, a launch event, maybe a few workshops. Then it fades.

But culture isn’t an initiative — it’s an ongoing system that influences every belief, behaviour and business decision. When we treat culture as something finished, we miss the point.

What to upgrade:

Your mental model of culture. It must be seen as a living system that fuels and sustains human growth — psychology and science show us there is a formula for success.

What this looks like in practice:

✅ Reframe culture as an ongoing capability, not a fixed state.

✅ Regularly monitoring and listening — not just after an engagement survey — to understand how culture is evolving.

✅ Creating shared language and models (like our Growth Culture model) to help leaders and teams align on what growth looks and feels like.

Why it matters:

Organisations with adaptable, dynamic culture systems bounce back faster from shocks, attract and retain top talent, and outperform in innovation and execution.

2. From Designing for Outputs to Designing for Human Growth

(Shift the skills)

Most business systems are designed for efficiency — not for energy. We optimise for outputs: meetings, deliverables, KPIs. But if people are disengaged, burnt out or unclear on purpose, outputs plateau — or worse, collapse.

Growth cultures put human performance at the centre. That means equipping leaders and teams with the skills to support sustainable growth, not just manage performance.

What to upgrade:

Your leadership and team capabilities. Build the human skills that unlock trust, clarity and inclusion.

What this looks like in practice:

✅ Develop culture skills at every level — from senior execs to first-line managers — in areas like psychological safety, sharing feedback, and inclusive decision-making.

✅ Shift performance conversations from metrics to meaning: What’s helping people grow? What’s getting in the way? (Check out our AMG model to enable this!)

✅ Build skills to navigate complexity and enable long-term career development — not just hit short-term targets.

Why it matters:

Teams that grow together outperform. Psychological safety alone increases collaboration by 58%, and purpose-driven work drives 5x higher wellbeing and retention.

3. From “Top-Down Control” to “Everyone Shapes Culture”

(Shift the habits)

Culture used to be set from the top. Values cascaded down. But in modern organisations, this approach is too slow and too shallow.

Today’s high-performing cultures are shaped bottom-up, top-down and sideways — through the daily habits of teams, not just the words of leaders.

What to upgrade:

The habits that drive your operating system. Embed them into the rhythms of daily work.

What this looks like in practice:

✅ Define not just what you value, but what gets rewarded and tolerated. Make this visible through rituals, stories, and consistent behaviours.

✅ Create shared ownership of culture through team-level “culture commitments” — agreements on how we work, grow, and lead together.

✅ Integrate culture moments into the business rhythm — monthly retros, real-time feedback, ‘moments that matters’ check-ins, and team growth habits.

Why it matters:

People are 57% more likely to go the extra mile when they feel like culture is something they actively shape — not just something they’re told.

4. From Outdated, Complex Tools to Modern, Straightforward Systems

(Shift the tools)

Many organisations are still using clunky, compliance-driven systems to try to drive human behaviour. These tools often confuse, frustrate or are simply ignored.

To scale a growth culture, we need to embed modern, intuitive tools that support the real world of work: fast-paced, people-powered, and change-driven.

What to upgrade:

The systems and platforms that support culture change. Make growth feel easy and obvious, and fair and objective people decisions a no-brainer.

What this looks like in practice:

✅ Equipping leaders and managers with the understanding of what fuels great culture and the tools to keep shaping it in their teams.

✅ Embed objective tools and systems to truly understand the potential of people and interrupt biased decision-making.

✅ Replace annual reviews with lightweight, feedback-driven moments that reflect how work really happens.

✅ Build a digital library of just-in-time resources — not PDFs lost in SharePoint.

Why it matters:

Growth shouldn’t feel like extra work. With the right tools, it becomes the way work gets done. And when tools make it easier to lead with intention, culture change sticks.

Culture as a Strategic System — Not an Add-On

This is the operating system upgrade business needs:

✅ One that makes culture continuous.

✅ One that centres human energy and performance.

✅ One that empowers everyone to shape how work feels.

✅ One that is supported by systems built for today, not 1995.

At Make It Human, we help leaders build these new foundations. Not just through theory, but with practical models, learning experiences, and hands-on advisory — rooted in behavioural science and real business impact.

The Payoff: Resilient People. Sustainable Growth.

We’ve seen what happens when this reset takes place: 

🚀 Engagement increases.

🚀 Performance is sustained

🚀 Profitability reaches new levels

 Culture isn't a brand campaign. It's a system. When you reset it with intention, everything improves.

Want to upgrade your operating system for growth?

Let’s build a culture that fuels performance that lasts.

Get in touch to get started resetting your operating system for growth.