Colin D. Ellis's Blog, page 2

Taking a break

Whenever I’m being interviewed I often get asked the question ‘What’s one thing you’d like to get better at?’ Given that I love what I do, I’m constantly working on improving my knowledge, my awareness, my content, my delivery, my programmes and my understanding of the world and how it impacts the work my clients want to do.

Yet my answer is almost always ‘Taking a break’; and from my conversations with clients and fellow self-employed individuals, I’m not alone!

Taking a proper ‘get-away-from-it-all-disconnect-and-do-nothing’ holiday feels unachievable, unrealistic or something that other people do! Or else, it’s something I don’t really look forward to as I know that when I do get around to taking a holiday, I get sick on day one!

This is known as the let down effect. During times of stress (positive and negative), the body's immune system can be temporarily boosted by stress hormones, but once the stress is removed, a rapid decrease in these hormones can weaken the immune system and leave us vulnerable to illnesses like colds, headaches, or stomach disorders. This also manifests as increased fatigue, irritability, or a general feeling of sadness and lack of motivation.

To counter this I’m now better at managing my evenings and weekends. I try not to work past 7pm and on weekends I’ll go for a hike or visit a gallery to truly disconnect. 

Yet, it’s the big breaks that I struggle to take. The ones where you sit and do nothing. Where you revel in books, magazines, people watching and a bit of boredom and let the brain and body refresh. The phone and tablet are consigned to a drawer, and the only notifications I get are when my whisky cocktail is ready!

Rather than the alternative, which I seem to be better at - walking tens of kilometres around medieval European cities, trying to find evidence of World War II battles, whilst listening to a history podcast about how they built the Great Wall of China. It’s my biology, I can’t help it!

Anyway, that’s what I’m going to do. From today I’m taking a two-week break to do all of the things I mentioned above (the relaxing and cocktails, not the endless walking and listening!)

I already know what will happen. For the first two or three days I’ll be restless, not really knowing what to do with myself. Then on day four I’ll feel a sense of calm and I’ll start noticing things that ordinarily I’d miss. I’ll realise that whilst the technology that we have access to can add value to our lives it’s also a huge drain on our attention and the latter is more prevalent than the former.

By day seven, my mind will be awash with ideas, so I’ll need a pen and paper to capture them and by day ten I’ll wonder why I don’t do this every year and resolve to make it so.

This means taking a break from writing and posting content. The hustle bros will tell me that I should work harder and stay up later to write and schedule two weeks of content so that I ‘don’t fall out of people’s feeds’. But, that’s a chance I’m going to take. 

After all, I can’t preach about the importance of people taking a break to keep their cultures fresh and then never do it myself! Now, does anyone have any podcast recommendations…

Here’s some essential reading whilst I’m away. Download my new white paper by clicking the image above.

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When good enough isn’t good enough

Teams and organisations trapped in ‘good enough’ thinking create their own performance ceiling.

It starts innocently enough - missing project deadlines by a few days; accepting first-draft solutions instead of exploring better alternatives; celebrating completion over excellence; or (new for 2025!) using AI to complete work without peer reviewing the outputs.

The psychology behind the mindset is seductive: good enough feels safe, reduces conflict, removes another thing off the list and as a result, requires less emotional investment. Yet, what I see in my work is that ‘good enough’ is cultural quicksand.

The quality of results suffers, performance gets stuck and people get dragged down.

High-performing teams understand that ‘good enough’ is often the enemy of success. They've learned that raising standards doesn't increase pressure, it increases pride and commitment.

In my experience, these teams deliberately cultivate discomfort with mediocrity through:

Rigorous peer review that challenges assumptions and quality

Post-task analysis that asks ‘how could this be 5% better?’

Celebrating ambitious attempts that fall short over safe successes

Creating space for big ideas before settling on sensible ones

Measuring impact, not just output

Sharing ownership of collective team reputation

When teams stop accepting good enough, extraordinary becomes possible and the goals that felt unachievable before, now become the new baseline.

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People and profit

Some cultures put profit before people. They demand long hours, weekend work and an ‘always on’ mentality. Safety is compromised, they demand loyalty and they priority shift all of the time, leaving employees confused and burnt out.

Yet those organisations that put people before profit will always outperform them. These organisations focus on doing fewer things to a higher quality. They provide clarity, safety, challenge and environment that rewards those that work productively whilst being a good human.

People and profit are not mutually exclusive, yet only those organisations that put people first, will continually make great profits.

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Is socialising good for culture?

I was speaking to an HR director at a conference two weeks ago who was frustrated that people weren’t joining in on social activities, and "fun" workplace experiences. "We organise all these things," she said, "but half the team don't want to join in or be part of it. People still seem disconnected."

It's a conversation I have regularly in my work with different organisations in different sectors around the world (and a question we ask on the Five Cultures Quiz), and it raises a question worth asking: is socialising actually good for culture? The answer isn't as straightforward as you might think.

Let's start with the case for socialising. When done well, it can transform workplace relationships. I've seen teams who barely spoke to each other become genuinely collaborative after spending time together not working. 

There's something powerful about seeing your colleague as a human being rather than just the person who sends you meeting requests. Socialising breaks down the artificial barriers we create during work. It lets people drop their professional masks and connect human-to-human.

Good socialising also creates shared experiences and stories that bind teams together. Those inside jokes, the memories of that time when Alex got completely lost trying to find the restaurant at lunch, or when Kai turned out to be brilliant at go karting despite claims to the contrary - these moments become part of the team's identity. They create a sense of belonging that's difficult to manufacture through team meetings alone.

And there's solid research backing this up. Teams that socialise together often show higher levels of trust, better communication, increased wellbeing and improved collaboration. When you know someone's backstory, their challenges outside work and what makes them laugh, you're more likely to give them the benefit of the doubt when things get stressful.

Yet, there are few issues which inevitably generate complications.

The first one is obvious, to me, at least. If you want to bring people together for work social events, then this is something that should happen in work time. It’s not something that you do after work, when - if we’re being honest - people just want to go home and spend time with loved ones.

If you want to arrange an alternate evening plan, brilliant, go for it. You just have to understand that this is not necessarily how people want to spend their spare time, and that’s fair enough.

Secondly, what managers consider to be fun, might not necessarily be what the team considers to be fun, which is why the programme of events should always be determined by the team. If the team has agency over the series of events designed to keep them connected to each other then they are far more likely to attend. Nobody wants fun to be ‘done’ to them.

Finally - and I don’t believe there’s enough appreciation of this - socialising can also be exclusionary. Traditional work socials can systematically exclude people, especially if they are after work. Parents who need to collect children, people who don't drink, those who can't afford the additional costs, employees with caring responsibilities, or simply those who find large social gatherings exhausting rather than energising. 

That’s not to say that you have to pander to everyone’s whims - not everybody is going to love everything - but you do have to think deeply about events that generate emotional connection, rather than disconnection.

These complications can be further compounded by two other factors; competition and alcohol. If you’re pitting people against each other, then it ceases to be ‘fun’ for those who aren’t winning. This creates stress rather than reducing it, and can actually damage culture!

Whilst, in my opinion, too many workplace socialising events revolve around alcohol, which brings its own risks. I've seen careers damaged by behaviour at work events, inappropriate comments made after a few drinks, and the awkwardness that follows when Monday morning arrives.

Socialising should never be a substitute for addressing real cultural issues. I've worked with organisations that have spent thousands on team-building events whilst ignoring toxic managers, unclear expectations, or unfair workloads. Socialising became a band-aid covering much deeper wounds.

You can’t cure toxic management by taking everyone out for lunch.

So where does this leave us? In my experience, the best workplace cultures do socialise, but they do it thoughtfully. They create multiple types of social opportunities - lunch-and-learns, walking meetings, celebration breakfasts, volunteer days - that appeal to different preferences and circumstances. They don't make socialising mandatory, and they certainly don't make it the foundation of their culture strategy.

Most importantly, they use socialising to complement strong daily relationships, not create them from scratch. The teams that get the most value from social events are those that already have spent time building relationships, psychological safety, clear communication, and mutual respect in their everyday work.

The question then isn't whether socialising is good for culture - it's whether you're using it as a genuine expression of existing relationships or as a desperate attempt to create connection that's missing from your daily operations.

What's your experience - does socialising actually strengthen your culture, or does it just make you feel like it should?

Download my new white paper and find out how to intentionally build a great culture.

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Culture Speak - Part Four (video)

In this fourth episode of Culture Speak I discuss the characteristics of a combatant culture, where engagement is high, but emotional intelligence is low, and every day is filled with anxiety, stress and busy-work.

It is available as a video series on YouTube (below) or as a podcast at the following links:

Spotify Podcasts: Click here

Apple Podcasts: Click here

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Be an optimistic realist

Yesterday was my 56th birthday (I know, I can’t believe it either!) 

I have changed immeasurably since I left that schoolboy behind. Different jobs, different companies, different sectors, different clothing styles, different haircuts in different countries. 

Yet one thing has never changed. As long as I can remember I’ve always been an optimistic realist. 

I've always been uncomfortable with the forced choice between optimism (‘Be positive!’) and realism (‘That’ll never work!). It's a false dichotomy and one that workplace cultures suffer from daily. You're either the perpetually positive leader who ignores problems, or the hard-nosed realist who crushes spirits with every conversation.

Both approaches create unhealthy and unproductive cultures and in reality, neither works.

Being an optimistic realist means holding two truths simultaneously: acknowledging what's broken whilst believing it can be fixed. It's not about splitting the difference between perpetually wearing rose-tinted glasses and publicly doom-mongering, it's about seeing clearly and acting purposefully.

When you're an optimistic realist in the workplace, you don't hide problems from your team. You name them, frame them, and then focus collective energy on solving them. You're the leader who says, ‘Yes, we missed our targets. How can we work together to address them and emerge stronger?’

I've seen cultures transform when their leaders shift from pure optimism to optimistic realism. Instead of feeling manipulated by false promises or deflated by constant negativity, team members become co-creators of their conditions and solutions.

Being an optimistic realist in my work means I can discuss toxic workplace cultures without becoming cynical about change. I can acknowledge that the response to most employee engagement surveys is toothless whilst still believing organisations mean well and can create vibrant cultures where people matter. 

I don't minimise their challenges, but I also don't accept that toxicity or poor performance is inevitable.

I won't pretend this approach isn't exhausting. Some days, after hearing another story about workplace harassment, the realist in me wants to surrender to cynicism, rather than maintain the belief that behaviour and performance change is possible.

But reaching one person and helping them see that the false choice between blind optimism and defeating realism doesn't have to define who they are, makes the exhaustion worthwhile. Because I know that person will reach another, and another. Culture change happens one converted optimistic realist at a time.

That's what keeps me going: the knowledge that balanced thinking is contagious, and workplaces desperately need the infection! So when people ask me, ‘What’s one thing I can do that will make a difference?’ My answer is almost always ‘Be an optimistic realist.’

Learn how to build a culture full of optimistic realists! Download my new white paper by clicking the image above.

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Smarter not harder

There’s an unhealthy narrative resurfacing in our working world and that’s the need to return to the ‘old ways’ of working. Where long hours and long weekends were a sign of dedication, commitment and delivered an endless stream of productive work.

Where employees worked hard, played hard and were grateful for the job that they found themselves doing. They didn’t moan, they got on with whatever was thrown at them and hey, if leaders had to shout at them to get the best out of them, then that was necessary too.

Yet, these were never the ‘good old days’ for those of us who worked in them. They were the good old days for those that led them. These people had big salaries, big bonuses, big reputations and lived big lives and leaders that don’t have that now, want it to come back.

Unfortunately for them, you can’t unscramble the egg. 

Thankfully the world is a very different place now. We rejected the Gordon Gekko ‘Greed is right. Greed works’ world and now live in a more empathetic, compassionate and supportive place.

However, the good news for leaders is that the results and reputation that they seek are all still possible. Not by making employees work harder and longer, but by intentionally creating cultures where everyone works smarter.

One where leaders understand that positive human dynamics are the way to get anything done and that they demonstrate their commitment and unity to this.

One where managers aren’t promoted based on how long they’ve been with the company, but where they show they have the ability to connect people to a vision that everyone believes in. Where they are provided with the skills to make a difference and where people aren’t afraid to come to work.

A culture where we respect the views and inputs of individuals yet still make decisions that benefit the collective and that take us that step nearer to achieving our goal.

A culture where there is discipline, commitment, equity, understanding and a desire to improve, but not through the burnout and destruction of those that work there.

A culture that wants to get the job done, not for the people telling them to do it, but for the pride that they feel in doing so and a desire to not let their teammates down.

All of this is possible. Not through a time machine back to the old days but an acceptance and commitment to the world we live in today.

The great leaders never followed the herd, they were the ones who always worked smarter, whilst they watched their peers burn themselves out working harder.

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To help you fully understand how to intentionally build a great culture, I have written a new white paper which you can download for free (with no marketing obligations) from here or by clicking the image below.

Download my new white paper by clicking the image above.

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The definition of culture

Culture is the shared values, behaviours and practices that shape an organisation’s work environment. This definition applies to every organisation, in every sector, in every country around the world.

The key word in this sentence isn’t values, behaviours or practices (even though these are the things that are evident in our work every day), it’s the word ‘shared’.

This is the word that determines the culture climate in which we work.

When we work together to gain agreement on our working conditions, not only does this set clear expectations of the parameters in which we work, it also sets a standard for us to uphold.

On the other hand, if we are told what our culture is (i.e. culture is mandated, not shared), then this leads to disengagement or else generates a lack of psychological safety and means that we are unable to bring our best self to work.

Without agreement on our culture, the conditions for high-performance (where employees do the best that they can with what they have, every day) is almost impossible to achieve.

It starts with education. Of leaders, managers and employees. Only once every level of the organisation understands what it means to create a great place to work can they set about working together to create it.

Culture isn’t about the needs of one individual, it’s about a shared determination to be collectively great, in everything you do.

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To help you fully understand how to gain alignment on this definition, I have written a new white paper which you can download for free (with no marketing obligations) from here or by clicking the image below.

Download my new white paper by clicking the image above.

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Culture by Design

Organisations spend hours discussing culture. They launch initiatives, run surveys, hold workshops. Yet somehow the culture challenges and frustrations keep shifting or else nothing ever changes.

Some then try to fix it with operating model changes, some with restructures, some with transformation programmes. None of which generally address the root causes.

So then the narrative shifts; ‘culture change is hard’; ‘culture change takes years’ or ‘you can't measure culture change effectively, anyway.’ However, these statements are false.

The reason these challenges keep shifting isn't because the elements of culture are unknown or unpredictable. It's that most organisations approach change backwards. 

Culture change isn't ‘hard’ when you design it intentionally from the start. It's only hard when you're trying to retrofit meaning onto systems that were built without it. It's like trying to tune an instrument while the orchestra is already playing.

The truly great organisation cultures recognise this truth - you get the culture that you choose to build. The best places to work every single year have access to the same information, talent, and advice that you do, yet every year they are regarded as the best places to work. What is it that they do?

The answer lies in something I have discovered during a decade of research and work.

It’s a discovery that applies to every organisation, in every sector, in every country around the world. I should know I’ve been helping organisations to successfully implement it for the last 10 years! To date, I’ve worked in 20+ countries with 120+ teams.

The organisations that succeed in not only creating a great place to work, but also ensuring it stays that way, all have three principles in common.

They are as follows:

Leaders commit - Great leadership teams don't just talk about culture, they commit to it. Together. They recognise that culture is the mechanism through which results are achieved and they set the example for others to follow.

Managers build - Senior leaders are role models for the culture, but it’s middle managers who actively build it. When managers are provided with the skills to build, uphold and evolve culture it changes everything.

Employees own - Leaders commit and managers build but without employee agency, it will always feel like culture is being ‘done to them’. After all, you can’t preach culture and hope for ownership. 

When you have all three of these principles in play, you have the recipe for continual success. It’s then important to ensure that this isn’t a one-off ‘tick-box’ culture. For performance to be sustained then not only do existing employees need to remain aligned to the approach, but the people you hire need to support it too.

Never forget that you get the culture that you choose to build. If you’re not intentionally designing the way that work gets done, then achieving high-performance will only ever be fleeting.

You already have a culture, why not make a great one?

Download my new white paper and find out how to intentionally build a great culture.

  Subscribe to Colin on Culture Sign up with your email * indicates required Email Address *

Culture By Design

Organisations spend hours discussing culture. They launch initiatives, run surveys, hold workshops. Yet somehow the culture challenges and frustrations keep shifting or else nothing ever changes.

Some then try to fix it with operating model changes, some with restructures, some with transformation programmes. None of which generally address the root causes.

So then the narrative shifts; ‘culture change is hard’; ‘culture change takes years’ or ‘you can't measure culture change effectively, anyway.’ However, these statements are false.

The reason these challenges keep shifting isn't because the elements of culture are unknown or unpredictable. It's that most organisations approach change backwards. 

Culture change isn't ‘hard’ when you design it intentionally from the start. It's only hard when you're trying to retrofit meaning onto systems that were built without it. It's like trying to tune an instrument while the orchestra is already playing.

The truly great organisation cultures recognise this truth - you get the culture that you choose to build. The best places to work every single year have access to the same information, talent, and advice that you do, yet every year they are regarded as the best places to work. What is it that they do?

The answer lies in something I have discovered during a decade of research and work.

Download my new white paper by clicking the image above.

It’s a discovery that applies to every organisation, in every sector, in every country around the world. I should know I’ve been helping organisations to successfully implement it for the last 10 years! To date, I’ve worked in 20+ countries with 120+ teams.

The organisations that succeed in not only creating a great place to work, but also ensuring it stays that way, all have three principles in common.

They are as follows:

Leaders commit - Great leadership teams don't just talk about culture, they commit to it. Together. They recognise that culture is the mechanism through which results are achieved and they set the example for others to follow.

Managers build - Senior leaders are role models for the culture, but it’s middle managers who actively build it. When managers are provided with the skills to build, uphold and evolve culture it changes everything.

Employees own - Leaders commit and managers build but without employee agency, it will always feel like culture is being ‘done to them’. After all, you can’t preach culture and hope for ownership. 

When you have all three of these principles in play, you have the recipe for continual success. It’s then important to ensure that this isn’t a one-off ‘tick-box’ culture. For performance to be sustained then not only do existing employees need to remain aligned to the approach, but the people you hire need to support it too.

Never forget that you get the culture that you choose to build. If you’re not intentionally designing the way that work gets done, then achieving high-performance will only ever be fleeting.

You already have a culture, why not make a great one?

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To help you fully understand how to apply these three principles, I have written a new white paper which you can download for free (with no marketing obligations) from here .

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