Strategy vs Culture: What Really Creates Change?

leadership trauma Nov 28, 2025

After attending the Restraint Reduction Network Conference and speaking with one of the most trauma-informed Headteachers I know, I found myself coming back to a question that sits at the heart of meaningful, sustainable change:

What actually creates transformation - the strategy or the culture?

It was during this reflection that I came across a line that stopped me in my tracks:

“Strategy gives direction.
Culture gives momentum.”

One tells you where to go.
The other determines how far you’ll actually get.

And across education, residential care, and clinical teams, this distinction matters more than we often acknowledge.

Strategy: The Part We’re Good At

We’re all familiar with the world of strategy:

Checklists
Project plans
Action timelines
Quarterly targets
Evaluation frameworks

These are important. They give us clarity, structure, and a shared sense of purpose.

But strategy alone doesn’t shift behaviour. It doesn’t build safety. It doesn’t create the conditions for trust.

Culture: The Quiet Force That Does the Heavy Lifting

Culture is rarely written down.
It’s felt before it’s seen.
It’s the unspoken norms shaping:

✨ How people respond under pressure
✨ How teams treat each other
✨ How children and young people experience the environment
✨ How decisions get made at every level

At the RRN Conference, one line captured this beautifully:

“Co-production is the biggest culture-change tool we have.”

And it’s true.

When young people, families, and staff genuinely shape the work together, everything shifts: safety, trust, consistency, and real, relational change.

Because the truth is:

“You can design the best strategy in the world.
But if the culture resists — nothing moves.”

And equally:

“If the culture is strong — even an average strategy can win.”

I’ve seen this time and time again in trauma-informed and neurodiversity-affirming practice.
When culture is rooted in compassion, curiosity, and shared values, progress comes quickly. Young people feel the difference immediately.

Great Leaders Understand Both

One of the lines that stayed with me most was this:

“Great leaders read strategy like a map.
But they read culture like a pulse.”

Because leadership isn’t about choosing strategy or culture.
It’s about navigating the space between them:

Where plans meet people
Where direction meets day-to-day behaviour
Where vision meets values
Where co-production becomes the anchor

A strong strategy tells us where we’re going. A strong culture determines whether we ever get there.

The Real Reflection

So here’s the question I’m sitting with - and the one I invite you to consider, too:

Are you only shaping the strategy?

Or are you shaping the culture that brings it to life?