Our Agile Tales

In this series of episodes on Our Agile Tales, we’re getting radically honest about company culture with Lizzie Benton—culture coach, founder of Liberty Mind, and one of the most refreshingly candid voices in the world of modern work.

Let’s face it: “culture” has become a buzzword. It’s often pitched as a magic bullet for success, but most organizations still struggle to define it—let alone get it right. In this series, Lizzie helps us move beyond the platitudes. She unpacks what culture actually is, why so many transformations fall flat, and what it really takes to build a workplace where both people and business can thrive.

We’ll explore the tools and mindsets that matter, and dig into the uncomfortable truths that often get overlooked.

In this episode:

In this episode of Our Agile Tales, we continue our conversation with Lizzie Benton, where she shares insights on integrating company culture with sustainability, embedding continuous learning, and fostering employee engagement and retention. She also explores innovative approaches to pay, promotions, and the ongoing debate of remote vs. hybrid work environments. Providing examples from progressive organizations, Lizzie illustrates the importance of co-creation, psychological safety, and empathetic feedback in building adaptable and thriving workplaces.

• 00:00 Introduction 
• 02:03 The Importance of Sustainability in Company Culture
• 04:27 Embedding Continuous Learning in Company Culture
• 07:23 The Role of Professional Development in Employee Engagement
• 10:02 Progressive Companies: Pay and Promotions in Flatter Organizations
• 16:41 Remote vs. Hybrid Work: Co-Creating the Best Environment
• 23:44 Ensuring Accountability Without Carrots and Sticks
• 29:04 Conclusion

About Lizzie Benton:

Lizzie is a culture coach and the founder of Liberty Mind. She helps companies evolve beyond bureaucratic structures toward more human-centered, purpose-driven workplaces. She’s worked across industries—from tech to charities to construction—always with a focus on unlocking human potential and helping teams co-create meaningful change.

Her approach blends depth and practicality, rooted in progressive practices like self-management, Liberating Structures, and Teal principles. Lizzie is a certified Holacracy Practitioner, Semco Style Expert, and TuffLeadership coach. She’s been named one of the top 30 millennials changing the world of work and has been featured in Forbes, The Metro, and The Financial Times.

Visit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about

In this series of episodes on Our Agile Tales, we’re getting radically honest about company culture with Lizzie Benton—culture coach, founder of Liberty Mind, and one of the most refreshingly candid voices in the world of modern work.

Let’s face it: “culture” has become a buzzword. It’s often pitched as a magic bullet for success, but most organizations still struggle to define it—let alone get it right. In this series, Lizzie helps us move beyond the platitudes. She unpacks what culture actually is, why so many transformations fall flat, and what it really takes to build a workplace where both people and business can thrive.

We’ll explore the tools and mindsets that matter, and dig into the uncomfortable truths that often get overlooked.

In this episode:

In this episode of Our Agile Tales, we continue our conversation with Lizzie Benton, where she provides deep insights into the challenges and successes of self-management models, decentralizing decision-making, and rethinking roles and responsibilities within organizations. We explore practical frameworks like advice-based decision making, and discuss how even non-executive employees can catalyze cultural changes. Lizzie shares her expertise on the importance of starting small, experimenting with new practices, and the pivotal role of leadership in cultivating trust and vulnerability. In this episode we discuss diagnostic tools for assessing company culture, the significance of cultural fit in hiring, and how to integrate employee wellbeing into organizational practices. The conversation delves into common obstacles faced during culture change and the role of leadership in fostering an inclusive and vibrant workplace.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 02:11 Assessment Tools for Culture Change
• 04:51 Spreading Successful Experiments
• 06:52 Overcoming Obstacles in Culture Change
• 09:54 The Role of Leaders in Shaping Culture
• 16:00 Measuring Company Culture
• 18:39 Hiring for Cultural Fit
• 20:55 Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace
• 25:36 Impact of Culture on Wellbeing
• 29:03 Conclusion

About Lizzie Benton:

Lizzie is a culture coach and the founder of Liberty Mind. She helps companies evolve beyond bureaucratic structures toward more human-centered, purpose-driven workplaces. She’s worked across industries—from tech to charities to construction—always with a focus on unlocking human potential and helping teams co-create meaningful change.

Her approach blends depth and practicality, rooted in progressive practices like self-management, Liberating Structures, and Teal principles. Lizzie is a certified Holacracy Practitioner, Semco Style Expert, and TuffLeadership coach. She’s been named one of the top 30 millennials changing the world of work and has been featured in Forbes, The Metro, and The Financial Times.

Visit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about

In this series of episodes on Our Agile Tales, we’re getting radically honest about company culture with Lizzie Benton—culture coach, founder of Liberty Mind, and one of the most refreshingly candid voices in the world of modern work.

Let’s face it: “culture” has become a buzzword. It’s often pitched as a magic bullet for success, but most organizations still struggle to define it—let alone get it right. In this series, Lizzie helps us move beyond the platitudes. She unpacks what culture actually is, why so many transformations fall flat, and what it really takes to build a workplace where both people and business can thrive.

We’ll explore the tools and mindsets that matter, and dig into the uncomfortable truths that often get overlooked.

In this episode:

In this episode of Our Agile Tales, we continue our conversation with Lizzie Benton, where she provides deep insights into the challenges and successes of self-management models, decentralizing decision-making, and rethinking roles and responsibilities within organizations. We explore practical frameworks like advice-based decision making, and discuss how even non-executive employees can catalyze cultural changes. Lizzie shares her expertise on the importance of starting small, experimenting with new practices, and the pivotal role of leadership in cultivating trust and vulnerability. This episode offers a roadmap for organizations looking to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 02:00 Understanding Self-Management in Organizations
• 05:28 Challenges and Strategies for Implementing Self-Management
• 11:39 Roles and Responsibilities in Modern Workplaces
• 16:34 Decentralizing Decision Making
• 24:14 Practical Steps for Cultural Change
• 28:02 Conclusion

About Lizzie Benton:

Lizzie is a culture coach and the founder of Liberty Mind. She helps companies evolve beyond bureaucratic structures toward more human-centered, purpose-driven workplaces. She’s worked across industries—from tech to charities to construction—always with a focus on unlocking human potential and helping teams co-create meaningful change.

Her approach blends depth and practicality, rooted in progressive practices like self-management, Liberating Structures, and Teal principles. Lizzie is a certified Holacracy Practitioner, Semco Style Expert, and TuffLeadership coach. She’s been named one of the top 30 millennials changing the world of work and has been featured in Forbes, The Metro, and The Financial Times.

Visit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about

In this series of episodes on Our Agile Tales, we’re getting radically honest about company culture with Lizzie Benton—culture coach, founder of Liberty Mind, and one of the most refreshingly candid voices in the world of modern work.

Let’s face it: “culture” has become a buzzword. It’s often pitched as a magic bullet for success, but most organizations still struggle to define it—let alone get it right. In this series, Lizzie helps us move beyond the platitudes. She unpacks what culture actually is, why so many transformations fall flat, and what it really takes to build a workplace where both people and business can thrive.

We’ll explore the tools and mindsets that matter, and dig into the uncomfortable truths that often get overlooked.

In this episode:

We continue our conversation with Lizzie Benton and cover topics such as the importance of autonomy in teams, examples of hierarchical organizations experimenting with agile methods, and strategies for effective recruitment and team development. Lizzie emphasizes values-based recruitment, meaningful experiments within hierarchies, the significance of feedback, and the importance of coaching and listening skills. The episode also provides practical advice on improving meeting structures and fostering a culture where feedback is timely and constructive.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 02:07 Empowering Teams in Structured Organizations
• 05:32 Values-Based Recruitment and Hiring Challenges
• 10:00 Training and Developing Existing Employees
• 12:44 Effective Meetings and Decision-Making
• 16:51 The Importance of Listening and Coaching
• 20:12 Mastering Feedback in Company Culture
• 29:31 Conclusion

About Lizzie Benton:

Lizzie is a culture coach and the founder of Liberty Mind. She helps companies evolve beyond bureaucratic structures toward more human-centered, purpose-driven workplaces. She’s worked across industries—from tech to charities to construction—always with a focus on unlocking human potential and helping teams co-create meaningful change.

Her approach blends depth and practicality, rooted in progressive practices like self-management, Liberating Structures, and Teal principles. Lizzie is a certified Holacracy Practitioner, Semco Style Expert, and TuffLeadership coach. She’s been named one of the top 30 millennials changing the world of work and has been featured in Forbes, The Metro, and The Financial Times.

Visit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about

In this new series of episodes on Our Agile Tales, we’re getting radically honest about company culture with Lizzie Benton—culture coach, founder of Liberty Mind, and one of the most refreshingly candid voices in the world of modern work.

Let’s face it: “culture” has become a buzzword. It’s often pitched as a magic bullet for success, but most organizations still struggle to define it—let alone get it right. In this series, Lizzie helps us move beyond the platitudes. She unpacks what culture actually is, why so many transformations fall flat, and what it really takes to build a workplace where both people and business can thrive.

We’ll explore the tools and mindsets that matter, and dig into the uncomfortable truths that often get overlooked.

In this episode:

In this episode, we delve into company culture and the essence of creating better workplaces with Lizzie Benton, a culture coach and founder of Liberty Mind. Lizzie shares her insights on moving beyond bureaucratic structures to build more human-centered, purpose-driven workplaces. The conversation touches on the success of Scandinavian countries in workplace happiness, the importance of trust, the pitfalls of traditional performance management, and the benefits of dynamic re-teaming. Lizzie also emphasizes the necessity of clear purpose, the treatment of people as adults, complexity consciousness, psychological safety, and participative decision-making in building progressive organizations.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 02:01 Exploring Scandinavian Work Culture
• 05:56 The DNA of Progressive Organizations
• 11:57 The Importance of Wholeness at Work
• 15:34 Humanizing Performance Management
• 19:53 The Future of Fluid Organizations
• 23:24 Democratizing Decision Making
• 27:02 Conclusion 

About Lizzie Benton:

Lizzie is a culture coach and the founder of Liberty Mind. She helps companies evolve beyond bureaucratic structures toward more human-centered, purpose-driven workplaces. She’s worked across industries—from tech to charities to construction—always with a focus on unlocking human potential and helping teams co-create meaningful change.

Her approach blends depth and practicality, rooted in progressive practices like self-management, Liberating Structures, and Teal principles. Lizzie is a certified Holacracy Practitioner, Semco Style Expert, and TuffLeadership coach. She’s been named one of the top 30 millennials changing the world of work and has been featured in Forbes, The Metro, and The Financial Times.

Visit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about

In this new series of episodes on Our Agile Tales, we’re getting radically honest about company culture with Lizzie Benton—culture coach, founder of Liberty Mind, and one of the most refreshingly candid voices in the world of modern work.

Let’s face it: “culture” has become a buzzword. It’s often pitched as a magic bullet for success, but most organizations still struggle to define it—let alone get it right. In this series, Lizzie helps us move beyond the platitudes. She unpacks what culture actually is, why so many transformations fall flat, and what it really takes to build a workplace where both people and business can thrive.

We’ll explore the tools and mindsets that matter, and dig into the uncomfortable truths that often get overlooked.

In this episode:

Lizzie Benton explains her journey into culture coaching, defines company culture, and addresses misconceptions about it. She critiques the impacts of Silicon Valley's corporate culture and explains the phenomenon of 'culture washing.' The discussion extends to alternative management structures, highlighting companies like Burtzorg and ABN AMRO that have successfully adopted self-managing teams. Join us as we delve deep into creating purpose-driven, adaptable work environments.

00:00 Introduction to Agile Tales Season 10
00:28 Meet Lizzie Benton: Culture Coach Extraordinaire
01:44 Defining Culture: Beyond the Buzzwords
03:12 Lizzie's Journey into Culture Coaching
04:35 Understanding Company Culture
08:39 Silicon Valley's Influence on Corporate Culture
13:30 The Problem with Traditional Hierarchies
17:03 Embracing New Ways of Working
19:32 Case Studies: Progressive Companies
29:01 Conclusion

About Lizzie Benton:

Lizzie is a culture coach and the founder of Liberty Mind. She helps companies evolve beyond bureaucratic structures toward more human-centered, purpose-driven workplaces. She’s worked across industries—from tech to charities to construction—always with a focus on unlocking human potential and helping teams co-create meaningful change.

Her approach blends depth and practicality, rooted in progressive practices like self-management, Liberating Structures, and Teal principles. Lizzie is a certified Holacracy Practitioner, Semco Style Expert, and TuffLeadership coach. She’s been named one of the top 30 millennials changing the world of work and has been featured in Forbes, The Metro, and The Financial Times.

You can learn more about Lizzie—and listen to her own podcast, Make It Thrive: The Company Culture Podcast—at libertymind.co.uk.

Visit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about

We are embarking on a transformative journey with Michael Hamman on Inner Agility: The Key to Business Agility on Our Agile Tales. Michael believes in the potential of the workplace as a catalyst for personal, professional, and social transformation. His work with many organizations, teams, and leaders has enabled them to embrace a greater holistic team and enterprise-level agility by nurturing their inner capacity for leadership agility in the face of the complexity, volatility, and uncertainty of the 21st-century world.

In this final episode of Agile Tales with Michael Hamman, we discuss the concept of Inner Agility as a pivotal element for achieving business agility. Michael shares his personal experiences, both disappointing and rewarding, in helping leadership teams develop their inner capacity for agility. He emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and the courage to face discomfort for personal and organizational growth. We also touch on his book, 'Evolve Agility,' which serves as a guide for fostering an agile leadership culture from within. The episode concludes with a teaser for our upcoming season 10 of Our Agile Tales.

00:00 Introduction
01:18 Disappointing Experiences in Leadership
04:38 Challenging Yet Rewarding Experiences
08:43 Starting the Inner Agility Journey
12:44 Michael Hamman's Book: Evolve Agility
14:45 Conclusion and Season 10 Teaser

Michael Hamman is the author of Evolvagility: Growing an Agile Leadership Culture from the Inside Out. The book provides a blueprint for what it means to be an agile leader in today's complex world and offers a practical roadmap for getting there. He is the head of development at Transformation Designs and is a Co-creator at the Centre for Inner Agility.

Visit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about

We are embarking on a transformative journey with Michael Hamman on Inner Agility: The Key to Business Agility on Our Agile Tales. Michael believes in the potential of the workplace as a catalyst for personal, professional, and social transformation. His work with many organizations, teams, and leaders has enabled them to embrace a greater holistic team and enterprise-level agility by nurturing their inner capacity for leadership agility in the face of the complexity, volatility, and uncertainty of the 21st-century world.

In this episode of 'Our Agile Tales,'  Michael Hamman talks about the significance of inner agility as a key to business agility. Michael talks about the transformative journey he advocates through his work with organizations and his book, 'Evolve Agility: Growing an Agile Leadership Culture from the Inside Out.' The episode delves into the practice of 'deliberate sensemaking,' and how it contributes to a more adaptive and authentic workplace culture. Michael emphasizes the importance of leadership and systemic changes starting from the top-level executives, advocating for a culture where awareness and complexity in meaning-making lead to more effective actions in the face of uncertainty. Books and resources for further reading on transformative leadership are also discussed.

00:00 Introduction to Agile Tales
01:13 Understanding Inner Agility
02:10 The Role of Coaches and Guides
06:06 Leadership and Organizational Transformation
11:02 The Nonlinear Nature of Change
23:50 Books and Resources for listeners
24:58 Conclusion

Michael Hamman is the author of Evolvagility: Growing an Agile Leadership Culture from the Inside Out. The book provides a blueprint for what it means to be an agile leader in today's complex world and offers a practical roadmap for getting there. He is the head of development at Transformation Designs and is a Co-creator at the Centre for Inner Agility.

Visit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about

We are embarking on a transformative journey with Michael Hamman on Inner Agility: The Key to Business Agility on Our Agile Tales. Michael believes in the potential of the workplace as a catalyst for personal, professional, and social transformation. His work with many organizations, teams, and leaders has enabled them to embrace a greater holistic team and enterprise-level agility by nurturing their inner capacity for leadership agility in the face of the complexity, volatility, and uncertainty of the 21st-century world.

In this episode of Agile Tales, our discussion with Michael delves into the concepts of inner agility and its pivotal role in achieving business agility, highlighting Chris Argyris’ theories on espoused theory versus theory in use. Michael provides insights on the challenges of honest communication within organizations and the psychological strategies people employ to avoid discomfort. He emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and the limitations that our inner operating systems impose on our sensemaking and interactions. Michael also touches on the IDG's inner development goals and the need for methods that enhance our capacity for complex sense-making. The episode underlines that true organizational transformation stems from a deeper personal transformation and increased awareness of our underlying beliefs and assumptions.

00:00 Introduction to Agile Tales
01:13 Espoused Theory vs. Theory in Use
05:29 The Cost of Avoiding the Truth
06:53 Organizational Transformation and Human Change
11:10 Experience Wheel and Inner Agility
16:59 Understanding Our Inner Operating System
19:30 Developing Inner Capacity for Sustainable Goals
24:56 Enhancing Team Collaboration and Sensemaking
29:35 Conclusion

Michael Hamman is the author of Evolvagility: Growing an Agile Leadership Culture from the Inside Out. The book provides a blueprint for what it means to be an agile leader in today's complex world and offers a practical roadmap for getting there. He is the head of development at Transformation Designs and is a Co-creator at the Centre for Inner Agility.

Visit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about

We are embarking on a transformative journey with Michael Hamman on Inner Agility: The Key to Business Agility on Our Agile Tales. Michael believes in the potential of the workplace as a catalyst for personal, professional, and social transformation. His work with many organizations, teams, and leaders has enabled them to embrace a greater holistic team and enterprise-level agility by nurturing their inner capacity for leadership agility in the face of the complexity, volatility, and uncertainty of the 21st-century world.

In this episode of Agile Tales, Michael Hamman emphasizes the importance of leadership agility in navigating the complexities of the 21st-century workplace. He addresses the impact of organizational politics, the need for a culture of transparency, authenticity, and integrity, and the benefits of collective intelligence in fostering innovation and effective action. He also shares anecdotes and insights on how leaders can create environments that promote psychological safety and challenge employees to achieve greater levels of performance and development.

00:00 Introduction to Agile Tales
01:24 The Hidden Layers in Organizations
02:44 The Importance of Authenticity
04:45 Challenges in Organizational Transparency
07:54 Disorienting Vocabularies
10:30 Developing People for Organizational Success
14:17 Leadership and Vulnerability
21:39 Handling Layoffs with Integrity
25:16 Collective Intelligence in Crisis
29:23 Conclusion

Michael Hamman is the author of Evolvagility: Growing an Agile Leadership Culture from the Inside Out. The book provides a blueprint for what it means to be an agile leader in today's complex world and offers a practical roadmap for getting there. He is the head of development at Transformation Designs and is a Co-creator at the Centre for Inner Agility.

Visit us at https://www.ouragiletales.com/about