Why Growth Can Quietly Undermine Your Company Culture

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-23

Growth is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it signals success, momentum, and opportunity. On the other, it can slowly erode the very culture that fueled your initial success. In an exclusive interview with the Motivational Speakers Agency, Erik Vermeulen, behavioural strategist and Managing Director of Ridgeline Consulting, shares his insights on why scaling often dilutes culture and how leaders can safeguard it. ### The Uncertainty Principle: Lessons from Expeditions Erik has spent years leading expeditions through deserts and up mountains, where uncertainty is the only constant. He draws a direct parallel to business: "Adventure actually refers to any undertaking where the outcome is uncertain. That is life. That is business." We often mask this uncertainty with routines and structures, but the most effective leaders embrace it. They operate with the same adaptability as an expedition leader navigating unpredictable terrain. ### What Sets High-Performing Teams Apart When asked what distinguishes a truly great team from a group of talented individuals, Erik points to two key factors: - **Culture**: The unwritten rules that define what's accepted and what's not. Great teams are crystal clear about which behaviours drive success and which derail it. - **A defined beginning and end**: Unlike corporate teams that grind year after year, elite teams set a specific goal, execute, and then reset. "Great teams have a beginning and a very definite end to their teamwork before they reset and tackle the next challenge." ### The Cordial Metaphor: Why Growth Dilutes Culture Erik uses a simple yet powerful metaphor to explain cultural dilution during growth. Imagine a glass of cordial (a concentrated syrup). The glass is your organisational structure. The cordial is your culture. As you add more water—representing new hires, new processes, new markets—the taste weakens. You end up with a pale imitation of what you started with. > "Growth is where your problem starts in terms of culture." Every organisation has a growth metric—bigger, better, more sales, more products. But without intentional effort, that growth waters down the cultural concentrate that made you unique. ### What Leaders Should Watch For As you scale, pay attention to these warning signs: - **Rising ambiguity**: When new team members don't instinctively know the unwritten rules, culture is slipping. - **Process over people**: Bureaucracy creeping in and slowing decisions. - **Loss of team identity**: Teams become permanent committees rather than mission-driven units with clear starts and ends. ### How to Protect Your Culture While Growing Erik's advice is not to avoid growth but to manage it deliberately. Here's how: - **Codify your culture**: Write down the unwritten rules. Make them explicit so they can be taught, not just caught. - **Hire for cultural fit**: Skills can be taught; attitude and alignment cannot. - **Create team charters**: Give teams a clear mission, timeline, and endpoint. Then celebrate the reset. - **Lead with uncertainty**: Acknowledge that the future is unpredictable. Equip your team to navigate it, not hide from it. In the end, growth doesn't have to mean dilution. With the right focus, you can scale your business while keeping the cordial strong. This interview was conducted by Tabish Ali of the Motivational Speakers Agency.