Culture Does NOT Eat Strategy for Breakfast

Every time the phrase “culture eats strategy for breakfast” gets thrown around, it sounds profound. But let’s be honest, it’s nonsense.

Culture is not an external "being" that you can't do anything about. What really happens is this: when leaders fail to embed culture as part of strategy, they themselves set their strategy up to fail.

Here’s the truth:

🔹Culture is not outside strategy - it is strategy.

A growth strategy without a cultural shift is like drawing a map without building the roads. You can have all the direction in the world, but no one’s getting there.

🔹If culture resists, it’s not culture’s fault.

It’s the leadership’s failure to design, engage, and evolve the way people think, act, and connect the dots. The hard work of transformation is not in the glossy decks, but in reshaping norms, behaviours, and beliefs so the strategy has soil to grow in.

🔹Blaming “culture” is a cop-out.

Too often, leaders use “culture” as the scapegoat for failed strategies. But let’s be clear: blaming culture usually lets leadership off the hook for poor communication, misalignment, and lack of ownership.

🔹Culture doesn’t just “eat.” It reflects.

The culture you see is a mirror of the priorities, decisions, and trade-offs leaders make every day. If those don’t align with the strategy, the gap shows up fast - in confusion, resistance, and disengagement.

🔹And here’s what the phrase misses entirely.

When you say, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” you’re also assuming your strategy is right. Without the right strategy, you can’t win. And winning itself shapes culture. That said, I’ve never seen a toxic culture win in the long run. The two are inseparable, and great leaders focus on both.

And by the way, Peter Drucker never said the line. It’s one of the most repeated misquotes in management history, confirmed by the Peter Drucker Society. Yet leaders keep repeating it as if it were carved in stone.

Why culture gets treated as “external”

So, why do so many leaders still discuss culture as if it were a separate entity?

Because it’s easier.

• It’s easier to write a strategy deck than to face the behaviors that block progress.
• It’s easier to announce priorities than to confront toxic norms, silos, or a lack of trust.
• It’s easier to pin blame on a vague “culture problem” than to acknowledge leadership blind spots, competing agendas, or the absence of shared ownership.

In short, culture feels “external” because dealing with it requires confronting people, power dynamics, and mindsets. Those aren’t abstract concepts,  they’re uncomfortable truths.

Where to start shifting the dial

If culture and strategy aren’t two separate plates but one intertwined meal, where do you start?

1. Name the cultural enablers and blockers. Don’t stop at values on posters. Ask: what behaviours today will make or break this strategy?
2. Link strategy to lived experience. Translate lofty goals into what they mean for daily decisions, meetings, and trade-offs.
3. Elevate visible leadership behaviours. People tend to believe what they see leaders doing, rather than what they hear them say.
4. Shape small wins that shift norms. Big cultural change doesn’t start with slogans; it begins with repeated, consistent moments where the new way proves better than the old.

The real breakfast truth?

If you ignore culture, it’s not culture that eats your strategy. It’s leaders who choose to see culture as an external entity that is not part of strategy.

Let’s stop making it a matter of strategy versus culture.

They’re not rivals, they’re partners.

One without the other will always fall short.

The choice is yours: design for alignment, or watch strategy collapse under its own weight.

Impactful Workshops for Influence & Momentum

Workshops and meetings often make up close to half the working week for change and transformation professionals.

If you’re leading the session, you want to create clarity, manage energy, build influence, and avoid pitfalls like overloaded agendas, hijacks, or disengagement.

If you’re sponsoring or attending, you want your time respected - no surprises, no wasted time, and a clear sense of what’s moving forward.

When workshops go well, they build credibility, authority, and momentum. When they don’t, traction is lost and confidence takes a hit.

Workshops can be a great way to cut through the noise, capitalise on all the collective knowledge in the room and use it to really create a clear sense of direction.. Our programs, purpose and our sanity need better Workshops.

That’s why this month I'm running a 2-hour Workshop Designer Masterclass on designing and delivering impactful workshops - more details coming soon.

This may not be relevant to you personally, but it might be beneficial to your team, peers, or colleagues. So feel free to spread the word.

This month, inside the Transformation Leadership Institute - TLI

It’s been a big month of conversations and breakthroughs:

✨Focus in Action - The Masterclass hit a nerve!

Our August Intentional Focus Masterclass drew strong engagement, sparking practical shifts for leaders as they transitioned from scattered to strategic. The AI Focus Coach was a game-changer for many. This is how, at TLI, we use AI to enhance change and transformation for modern leaders.

🌱New Learning Pathways - NEW Tier has launched - MindShift

We introduced a new tier in our learning journey, providing leaders with additional access to tools, office hours, and community resources. With monthly masterclasses, the ability to engage with a global audience of change and transformation leaders and access courses.

🌍Growing the Conversation with our Free Change Makers Corner CMC

Our free Change Makers Corner community continues to expand, with members diving into mini-courses, tools, and our private 1Shift podcast.

🚀Strategy Execution on the Ground - Global Expert Sessions

This month’s guest expert session featured Tom Wright (Chief Product Officer and former CEO of Cascade, the world's #1 tool for Strategy Execution) - a robust discussion on what real strategy execution looks like in practice. Strategy Execution remains the theme of the month inside of TLI, as I have been noticing a gap in this skillset and how important it is for modern change and transformation leaders.

🏛At the Top Table - The Senior Leaders Circle (C-Level, Executives, and Consulting Partners)

Inside the inner Circle, a Chief Transformation Officer led a round table conversation on integrating the operating model, innovation, and culture. Another CIO shared how vendor selection criteria must evolve to match the pace of today’s future-focused organisations.

The red thread that runs through it all? Leaders tackling real, on-the-ground challenges and finding smarter, faster ways forward.

Learn more about our programs and membership tiers here www.TL-institute.com

Warm Regards,

Jess Tayel

Founder of the Transformation Leadership Institute and People of Transformation membership & community.

Enable Organizations to Become Future Fit Through their Transformations & Change efforts.

Elevate Change & Transformation high-performing leaders to soar above the sea of sameness and achieve new heights in mastery, influence, & impact without the drag of going solo or slow progression.