Why Rapid Growth Quietly Dilutes the Culture That Made You Successful

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-23

This exclusive interview with Erik Vermeulen was conducted by Tabish Ali of the Motivational Speakers Agency. Erik Vermeulen is a behavioural strategist and Managing Director of Ridgeline Consulting, with more than 20 years' experience advising organisations on culture, leadership and performance. His work also draws on years of leading expeditions through demanding environments, where uncertainty is unavoidable rather than theoretical. That combination shapes his approach to organisational behaviour. Erik examines how people make decisions under pressure, what separates effective teams from groups of individuals, and why rapid growth can gradually weaken the culture that made a company distinctive in the first place. In this exclusive interview, Erik discusses what expedition leadership can teach businesses about uncertainty, the conditions high-performing teams need to succeed, why company culture often becomes diluted during growth, and how leaders can help people adapt as the pace of change accelerates. ### What Expeditions Teach About Leading Through Uncertainty **Question 1. What have leading expeditions in uncertain environments taught you about how business leaders should operate when outcomes are unpredictable?** Erik Vermeulen: "One of the big challenges in business today is how we deal with uncertainty. Many years ago, when I co-authored my first book on how adventure experiences can be used to build teams, we looked at the essence of adventure. For a long time, we thought adventure was defined by a set of activities or an endeavour, such as climbing a high mountain or taking a team on an expedition. But we found that adventure actually refers to any undertaking where the outcome is uncertain. That is life. That is business. We tend to mask the uncertainty of life and business through the rituals, routines and structures we create around ourselves and our teams. But we have no certainty about whether we're going to be around tomorrow, next week, next month or next year to meet our sales targets or lead our teams. When I lead expeditions into unknown territories, where people are walking across a desert or climbing a mountain, there is a high degree of uncertainty. That's why I believe adventure is such a powerful lens through which to look at leadership, teams and behaviour." ### The Two Traits That Separate Great Teams from Talented Groups **Question 2. What distinguishes a genuinely high-performing team from a collection of talented individuals working towards the same target?** Erik Vermeulen: "There are two main things that separate great teams from groups of individuals. The first is culture: the unwritten rules within which the team operates. What is accepted? What isn't accepted? What behaviours take us towards what we want to achieve, and what takes us away from it? Great teams are very clear about what is tolerated and accepted within the team and what is not. The second aspect is more controversial: great teams know where they start and where they end. Often in corporate teams, we're a group of people who work together year in and year out, chasing the next target or the next deal. Really great teams have the ability to set a particular goal, follow the process that allows them to achieve it, and then reset afterwards. Great teams have a beginning and a very definite end to their teamwork before they reset and tackle the next challenge." ### Why Growth Dilutes Culture and What Leaders Should Watch For **Question 3. Why does rapid growth so often dilute company culture, and what should leaders be watching for as an organisation scales?** Erik Vermeulen: "Every organisation has some form of growth metric that defines it. They want to be bigger than last year, better than last year, make more sales or build more of whatever it is they build. Growth is where your problem starts in terms of culture. I use the metaphor of cordial to explain it. The glass is the structure that allows us to do business. We add the problem." In this metaphor, the glass represents the structure that allows a business to operate, while the cordial is the culture that gives it flavour and identity. As you pour in more water (growth), the cordial becomes diluted unless you intentionally add more concentrate (culture). Leaders must actively reinforce the unwritten rules that made the company successful, especially during periods of rapid scaling. Key warning signs to watch for as you grow: - New hires don't understand or follow the unwritten rules that once guided behaviour. - Decision-making becomes slower and more bureaucratic, losing the agility that fuelled early success. - Long-tenured employees feel their voice is no longer heard, leading to disengagement. - The company's original purpose gets buried under processes and metrics. To keep culture strong, leaders should regularly communicate what behaviours are rewarded and what aren't, embed culture into hiring and onboarding, and create rituals that reinforce shared values. Just like on an expedition, you need to constantly check your bearings and adjust course. By staying intentional, you can scale without losing the essence of what made your business special.