Every thriving business evolves, but too often, its culture gets stuck in the past. As organisations scale, what worked at 20 employees becomes a liability at 200. Having advised scale-ups and corporates, I’ve seen how cultural misalignment silently erodes innovation, talent retention, and agility.
In a recent article, I talked about organisational growth and how you need to match your culture to your organisation’s maturity stages. But how do you detect when you reach a stage of maturity that requires intervention?
Drawing from Greiner’s growth phases, Adizes’ lifecycle theory, and modern scale-up research, here’s a short guide on how to spot when your culture needs reinvention:
Stage 1: The Founder-Led Tribe (< 50 People)
“All hands on deck! We’re building the plane mid-flight.”
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Culture: High energy, informal, mission-driven. Decisions flow from the founder.
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Growth Trigger: Reaching ~50 people. Tribal knowledge becomes unmanageable.
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The Warning Sign: New hires feel lost. Founders are bottlenecks. Meetings solve yesterday’s fires.
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Revamp Focus: Codify values. Introduce basic processes (e.g., goal-setting). Founder must delegate.
Stage 2: The Scaling Experiment (50–250 People)
“We need managers? Since when?”
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Culture: Emergence of departments. Clashes between “old guard” and new hires.
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Growth Trigger: Passing Dunbar’s number (~150). Trust erodes without structure.
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The Warning Sign: Silos form. Middle managers feel powerless. Strategy feels disconnected from daily work.
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Revamp Focus: Clarify decision rights. Invest in leadership training. Kill sacred cows (e.g., “But we’ve always done it this way!”).
Stage 3: The Process Paradox (250–1,000 People)
“We built frameworks, why is everything slower?”
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Culture: Processes mature (HR, finance). Efficiency rises, autonomy falls.
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Growth Trigger: Crossing 250+ employees. Coordination demands systems.
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The Warning Sign: Innovation declines. Top talent complains about “red tape.” Customer feedback loops break.
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Revamp Focus: Empower cross-functional teams. Streamline approvals. Reward calculated risk-taking.
Stage 4: The Corporate Crossroads (1,000–5,000 People)
“Why does this feel like a different company?”
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Culture: Professionalised but bureaucratic. Legacy systems hinder change. Sub-cultures multiply.
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Growth Trigger: Multiple locations/products. Shareholder pressures mount.
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The Warning Sign: Politics trump outcomes. Employees disengage (“My work doesn’t matter”). Start-ups outmanoeuvre you.
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Revamp Focus: Reconnect to purpose. Break down hierarchies. Foster internal mobility.
Stage 5: Renew or Decline (5,000+ People)
“We’re successful, so why reinvent?”
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Culture: Risk-averse. Focused on defending past success.
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Growth Trigger: Market disruption. Talent exodus to agile competitors.
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The Warning Sign: “This is how we do things” mentality. Innovation theatre (labs without impact). Fear of failure.
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Revamp Focus: Build startup incubators. Reward unlearning. Replace compliance with curiosity.
The Cultural Turning Point
Culture isn’t static. What propelled you through one stage will hold you back in the next. The critical pattern? Pain precedes reinvention:
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Bottlenecks at 50 people
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Silos at 150
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Bureaucracy at 250
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Disengagement at 1,000
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Irrelevance at 5,000
If your people use words like “complicated,” “political,” or “exhausting” to describe your culture, it’s not them. It’s your operating system.
Is It Time to Upgrade? Ask:
- Do our values still drive decisions, or decorate walls?
- When did we last kill an outdated policy?
- Would a top performer thrive here today?
Your culture should fuel growth, not fossilise it.
Further reading:
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Greiner, L. (1972). “Evolution and Revolution as Organisations Grow” (HBR)
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Adizes, I. (1979). “Organizational Passages”
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Cameron, K. & Quinn, R. (1983). “Organizational Life Cycles”
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Scale-Up Institute UK Reports (2020–2023)
Not Sure Where You Fit? Let’s Diagnose It Together
These stages aren’t rigid boxes, they’re signposts. If your challenges don’t neatly align or you’re caught between phases, you’re not alone. Many organisations struggle with hybrid growing pains.
Need a tailored assessment? I help leadership teams pinpoint cultural friction points and redesign their operating systems for scale. Contact me for a diagnostic session. If you’re interested in diving deep in organisational culture and transformation, check out my book How Might We? A Fresh Look at Change Management and Transformation from a Neurodivergent Perspective, exploring how neurodivergent cognition and systems thinking offer vital tools for navigating these complex human and organisational dynamics.