I recently worked with a leadership team navigating a major reorg. They had all the right intentions: new structure, new strategy, new mindset.
And yet – six months later – same behaviors. Same silos. Same frustrations.
Why? Because they skipped the hard part: unlearning.
We talk a lot about what to add – skills, tools, knowledge, ways of working. But real transformation starts with what you’re willing to let go.
Psychologist Adam Grant calls them “mental fossils”: old beliefs that helped you succeed in the past but now quietly hold you back.
One of their leaders told me, “We want more collaboration.”
But their systems still rewarded individual heroics.
They said, “We want more autonomy and accountability.”
But execs still made all the key decisions behind closed doors.
Old mindsets were still driving the bus – just with new signage.
Culture doesn’t shift because you say it should.
It shifts when people stop acting out of yesterday’s assumptions.
If you want real change, start by asking:
➡️ What do we still believe that no one’s questioning?
➡️ What behaviors are we still rewarding that contradict our new direction?
➡️ What’s the story we keep telling ourselves that’s no longer true?
Unlearning is uncomfortable. But it’s also the most powerful move a leader can make.
Because what got you here won’t get you there.
And culture change doesn’t start with a memo.
It starts with a mindset reset.
Let go. Make space. Then build something better.