When a company scales up, changes shareholders, or sees its founders leave, a question invariably arises: how to evolve the culture without diluting it?
This tension between continuity and transformation was the focus of the 2nd edition of The Dots Connect, organized at Malt.
To fuel the reflection, two leaders shared a particularly enlightening experience:
Alexandre, CEO of Malt
Anna, CEO of Cheerz
Both share a demanding situation: leading a company they did not found, in a context of strong growth and structuring. Their exchanges show that culture is neither fixed nor intangible: it is a living asset, requiring constant arbitration and strong leadership involvement.
Culture as an identity foundation: clarifying without impoverishing
Before being a performance lever, culture is first what gives a company its identity. But as the organization grows, what was intuitive and embodied often becomes difficult to articulate. The exchanges highlight a major risk: believing that culture is “obvious,” while it gradually becomes illegible.
When culture is lived… but poorly named
At Cheerz and Malt alike, teams strongly embody the culture daily. Yet, when it comes to formalizing it, a realization emerges: too many words, too many layers, too many references accumulated over time.
Culture books, historical values, brand platforms, successive rebrandings… the intention is good, but the message becomes diluted. Result: everyone picks what resonates with them, without a truly shared vision.
From abstract value to actionable principle
The two leaders share the same conviction: generic “values” are no longer enough. Autonomy, benevolence, or responsibility quickly become interchangeable if they are not contextualized.
The choice is made to work on cultural principles specific to the company, with unique vocabulary, impossible to copy-paste elsewhere. The goal: create clear, understandable, and above all actionable guidelines in everyday life.
To remember: A strong culture is not one that accumulates words, but one that simplifies and makes comprehensible what truly matters.
Changing without betraying: the delicate balance between heritage and transformation
Taking the helm of a company founded by others imposes a complex posture. It is necessary to respect the legacy while assuming the responsibility to evolve the organization. The exchanges highlight this permanent tension between continuity and change.
Growing means accepting to lose some spontaneity
At Malt, hypergrowth quickly showed the limits of a very informal operation. What was the strength at the beginning - fluidity, proximity, absence of structure - becomes a hindrance beyond a certain point.
The creation of governance bodies, alignment of top management, and clarification of the vision then become mandatory steps. Not to “corporatize” the company, but to avoid confusion and contradictory directives.
The risk of “vanilla culture”
A strong point of the exchanges concerns the danger of standardization. By trying to please everyone - especially in international or post-acquisition contexts - companies run the risk of smoothing their culture to the point of insignificance.
Leaders insist on the necessity to embrace cultural uniqueness, even if it generates debates or resistance. A culture that never challenges anything ceases to guide.
To remember: evolving the culture is not about neutralizing it, but consciously choosing what to strengthen and what to abandon.
Incarnation, exemplarity, and difficult decisions: where it all plays out
The final lesson from the exchanges touches on the crux of the matter: implementation. A culture, however well articulated, only exists if it is embodied and protected in actions.
The exemplarity of leadership as a non-negotiable condition
Employees primarily observe the behaviors of leaders. Discrepancies between discourse and decisions are immediately detected.
This is why culture must be integrated into governance practices: COMEX evaluations, regular feedback, clarification of acceptable or unacceptable behaviors. The notion of a “yellow card” or “red card” makes explicit the limits not to be crossed.
Never compromise the culture, even for performance
A strong message runs through the testimonies: do not compromise on culture, even when faced with highly performing profiles.
Tolerating behavior contrary to the stated principles sends a devastating signal to the organization. Conversely, taking on difficult decisions - departures, reprimands, renouncements - strengthens the credibility of the collective project and the trust of the teams.
To remember: what you do not sanction inevitably becomes part of your culture.
In conclusion
This edition of The Dots Connect reminds us of a frequently underestimated truth: corporate culture is neither a fixed legacy nor a one-time project. It is a demanding, underlying work that accompanies each growth phase.
Clarifying, assuming, embodying, arbitrating: when leaders take this role seriously, culture becomes a true lever for alignment, engagement, and sustainable performance.