What if improving organisational culture wasn't about changing individuals, but changing the systems in which they work?

This was a central theme of a fascinating presentation by Harah Chon, designer, researcher and educator at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, exploring how systems thinking can transform workplace culture.

Systems thinking encourages us to look beyond individual challenges and understand how people, processes, hierarchies and behaviours connect.

Rather than tackling problems in isolation, it means stepping back to see the bigger picture, while also identifying where meaningful change can happen.

For MBD teams, this offers an opportunity.

Working across partners, practice groups and business functions, MBD professionals are uniquely positioned to identify organisational silos, challenge established assumptions and connect different perspectives.

Harah highlighted the importance of psychological safety, inclusive leadership and collaborative problem-solving in creating environments where everyone feels able to contribute.

She also introduced gigamapping, a creative technique for visualising complex problems, revealing connections and encouraging different perspectives.

The key takeaway?

Better organisational culture isn't created through leadership statements alone. It emerges when people are encouraged to think collectively, challenge existing structures and co-design solutions.

For MBD professionals, adopting a systems-led approach could help shift their influence from navigating organisational culture to actively shaping it.