Most organisations are trying to "improve the culture."
But the problem with culture is that it's not something you *do*. It's something that *emerges*.
Culture is not the solution. It's the result.
And it's created by one thing:reinforced attitudes.
At Appellon, we don't diagnose "culture problems."
We measure — and shift — theattitudinal patternsthat drive performance, trust, safety, and wellbeing.
Because if you're trying to fix culture directly, you're chasing the shadow, not the source.
What Is an Attitude?
Anattitudeis more than an opinion or a mood. It's alearned pattern of response— how people behave, think, or feel in relation to their environment. And in the workplace, these patterns are shaped by:
- What gets rewarded
- What gets tolerated
- What gets modelled
- What gets repeated
- What gets rewarded
Over time, these becomenormalised responses— not because of intent, but because of repetition.
As Dr. Sue Jauncey outlines in *The Next Generation Workforce* whitepaper:
"Most culture challenges are, at their core, unreinforced or misaligned attitudes — modelled inconsistently and measured without correction."
The Mistake: Trying to "Fix" Culture
Many organisations attempt to build culture through:
- Vision statements
- Values posters
- Engagement scores
- Off-site workshops
- Branded wellbeing programs
- Vision statements
But these efforts operate on the surface. They measure sentiment, not behaviour.
They broadcast values, but rarelyreinforcethem.
That's why they don't stick — and why employee belief systems stay unchanged.
Culture, in this outdated model, becomes performance theatre.
The Truth: Culture = The Reinforced Sum of Attitudes
Culture is not built.
It isrepeated— in daily interactions, leadership signals, peer reinforcement, and system design.
It's why two teams in the same organisation can have completely different "cultures":
- Because theirreinforced attitudesare different.
- Because theirreinforced attitudesare different.
- Because theirpatterns of behaviouraren't aligned.
- Because theirpatterns of behaviouraren't aligned.
At Appellon, we don't change culture through messaging.
Wechange what gets reinforced— until new patterns emerge as the new normal.
🔬 Why This Works: The Neuroscience of Organisational Patterning
The human brain is wired to conserve energy and minimise threat.
That's why it relies on default behaviours unless new behaviours are:
- ✅ afe
- ✅ ocially reinforced
- ✅ epeated regularly
- ✅ afe
In a high-pressure workplace, if achievement and connection arenotactively reinforced, the brain defaults to:
- Cortisol-driven reactivity
- Silence and avoidance
- Learned helplessness
- Cortisol-driven reactivity
When reinforcement is present, the brain shifts — over time — toward:
- Oxytocin-driven trust
- Proactive contribution
- Shared responsibility
- Oxytocin-driven trust
"Culture does not shift through sentiment. It shifts through repetition, reinforcement, and safe social learning."
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— Appellon Whitepaper: Learned Helplessness in Organisations
Appellon's System: From Attitudes to Collective Performance
Appellon operationalises attitude reinforcement at scale — using neuroscience-backed tools and real-time system design.
✅ Tech-Driven Coaching
Behavioural insights delivered in real time — personalised, data-backed, and grounded in actual practice, not perception.
⏱️ 10-Minute Micro-Learnings
Weekly, consumable sessions that embed new thinking and reinforce patterns of trust, contribution, and progress.
🔁 Real-Time Behavioural Reinforcement
Because the brain doesn't learn from one-offs. It learns through rhythm.
Week by week, we reinforce:
- Shared standards
- Progress as a norm
- Accountability without blame
- Leadership through modelling
- Achievement + connection as the core of wellbeing
- Shared standards
When You Reinforce Attitudes, Culture Takes Care of Itself
When organisations stop trying to manage culture, and instead reinforce the right attitudes:
- ✅ sychological safety rises
- ✅ eaders become reinforcers, not performers
- ✅ eams rebuild belief in the system
- ✅ erformance becomes a byproduct of structure
- ✅ sychological safety rises
This isn't branding. It's biology.
Final Thought: Stop Fixing Culture. Start Reinforcing Attitudes.
At Appellon, we say it simply:
"Culture is what people repeat."
If you want to shift it, stop talking — and start reinforcing what matters.
- ✅ Science-backed
- ✅ Built for scale
- ✅ Repeated in just 10 minutes a week
- ✅ Science-backed
Because the best organisations don't brand their culture.
They reinforce the attitudes that build it.
🔍 Want to diagnose the behavioural patterns driving your culture today?
Book a demo and start the shift from cortisol to connection.