Transforming Culture Is a Team Effort – Here's How to Build Yours

Driving culture transformation requires a movement, not coercion

Colin Anderson/Stocksy

"It takes a village to raise a child."

This African proverb encapsulates the essence of effective cultural change. Just as raising a child requires a community's effort to provide a safe and healthy environment, creating a conducive culture requires a collective endeavor. Success depends on building a movement. Leadership alone is not enough – it indeed takes a village.

In the early 2000s, LEGO, the iconic Danish toy company, was on the brink of bankruptcy. Despite being a beloved brand, the company faced several challenges, including declining sales and overly diversified product lines.

LEGO's remarkable turnaround quickly became a textbook example of collective culture change. Though former CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstor played a vital role, this wasn't a heroic endeavor. Instead of implementing a top-down approach, he built a decentralized innovation network.

Central to LEGO's rebirth was a cross-functional team – the Executive Innovation Governance Group – to align goal…