The Culture Hack

Serkan Deveci is an experienced HR leader at Google and a fantastic keynote speaker.

In this episode of The Culture Hack, Matt and Serkan discuss:

✅ The most common barriers to culture change

✅ The neuroscience behind the status quo bias

✅ The ‘here we go again’ syndrome (and how to overcome it)

✅ Authenticity comes from choice, not obligation

Nigel Taberner spent 10 years as a hostage negotiator.

He successfully negotiated over 130 high-risk armed sieges, suicide threats, and kidnap situations. Thankfully, not one person died in any of the incidents Nigel attended.

In this episode of The Culture Hack, we discuss:

✅ Listening like a life depends on it

✅ The hostage negotiator’s superpower

✅ How to get your kids to do their homework

✅ The two words you’ll never hear a hostage negotiator say

✅ The two things to focus on to have a positive first impression

Yasmine is the Head of Creative Learning, DEI & Culture at MediaZoo. She is an award-winning learning professional, who has won Gold in both Learning Professional of the Year and Rising Star categories at the Learning Awards.

In this conversation, Yasmine shares:

✅ The time a CEO flipped out at DEI training

✅ How to start small to make big change  

✅ Why every meeting needs an allocated devil’s advocate

Michelle Hartley is on a mission to transform HR from beige to brilliant. She’s the Founder of People Sorted, a specialist consultancy who support business and HR people on all things people and culture.

In this conversation, Michelle shares:

✅ How to get buy-in from internal organisational terrorists

✅ How to get into the inner sanctum and become a trusted advisor for the Board

✅ The three, simple design principles that underpin all culture change efforts

Danny is the Founder of Firgun, a specialist consultancy who help organisations to nurture high-performing leaders, teams and cultures. He’s an awesome business psychologist, coach, and speaker.

In this conversation, Matt and Danny discuss:

✅ How to get buy-in for culture initiatives through quick wins

✅ What actually makes a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ culture

✅ A real case study of turning around culture

In this episode, Matt Furness speaks to Penny Mallory.

Penny became the first woman to drive a World Rally Car (WRC)-specification in the otherwise male-dominated FIA World Rally Championship. She is a former TV presenter and a stunt driver.

Today, she has become a keynote speaker and leading authority on the topic of Mental Toughness.

Listen to hear:

✅ The myths and misconceptions around mental toughness

✅ How mental toughness sits with ideas like self-love

✅ Practical ways to develop mental toughness in yourself and others

In this episode, Matt Furness speaks to Franck Brown.

Franck is a Neurodiversity coach, educator, and trainer. He’s the founder of Conscious Clarity, an organisation that supports neurodivergent people in the workplace and supports organisations to get the most from neurodivergent talent.

Listen to hear:

✅ The key difference between neurodiversity and neurodivergence

✅ How “a rising tide lifts all boats”

✅ How to create an inclusive environment for neurodivergent talent

In this episode, Matt Furness speaks to Caspar Craven.

Caspar has sailed around the world twice. The first time on the World’s toughest Yacht Race and the second time with his family.

He was a Director at KPMG and has had several stints as a CFO. He has built multiple ventures, one of which he sold for a 7-figure sum. He’s a best-selling author and has now become an inspirational keynote speaker.

Listen to hear Caspar answer:

✅ When you were CFO, how high or low was culture on your business’ priority list?

✅ What would have persuaded you to invest more in culture?

✅ What are the shifts leaders must make to build healthier cultures?

✅ What are practical things leaders can do to positively shape culture?

In this episode, Matt Furness speaks to Jeremy Lowen.

Jeremy has conducted research on how to bring together two cultures during mergers and acquisitions (M&As).

Matt and Jeremy discuss:

✅ Why culture is an afterthought in M&As

✅ The key findings from his research on culture in M&As

✅ Common mistakes and myths that create culture clash

✅ Tiny, impactful tactics for bringing two cultures together

If you're soon or currently going through an M&A, this isn't one to miss.

In this episode, Matt Furness speaks to the fantastic Paula Brockwell.

Paula is a straight-talking culture expert and is the Founder of The Employee Experience Project.

In the first 10 minutes alone, they discuss:

✅ The ripples of company culture on our lives outside work

✅ How we need to 'flip the equation' to meet customers' needs

✅ Businesses who are sheep in wolf's clothing

✅ The culture revolution taking place

Listen for a fascinating viewpoint on how to get culture right.