239. Why your founder's culture dies at 50 employees (And what to do about it), with Work Futurist, Josh Levine

Welcome back to Truth, Lies & Work, the award-winning podcast where behavioral science meets workplace culture.

Hosted by Chartered Occupational Psychologist Leanne Elliott and business owner Al Elliott, this episode features Josh Levine, work futurist, author of "Great Mondays," and culture consultant who's helped companies like Credit Karma navigate the treacherous waters of hypergrowth.

Episode Summary

Picture this: You've built something special. Your team of 15 feels like family. Everyone knows everyone. The culture just works. But now you're staring down growth - maybe to 50, maybe to 100 employees. And there's this gnawing fear: what if scaling breaks everything we've built?

What We Cover

The 50-Employee Breaking Point

• Why founder's culture has an expiration date and the physics behind cultural breakdown

From Implicit to Explicit

• How to transform unspoken behaviours into values that actually scale beyond personal influence

The Three-Step Framework

• Identify, codify, and communicate the most important decisions that move the needle

Why Most Values Fail

• The difference between values as wall decorations versus business tools that drive decisions

Recognition Done Right

• How Wells Fargo's outcome-focused rewards destroyed trust and what to do instead

Trust as Infrastructure

• Why relational infrastructure matters more than physical infrastructure in distributed work

The WD-40 Case Study

• How Gary Ridge reframed failure as learning and invested in humans, not just outputs

Measuring Culture at Scale

• Why Employee Net Promoter Score captures what matters as you grow

Resources

Connect with Josh Levine on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akajoshlevine

• Follow Josh on Instagram: @greatmondays_culturedesign
• Great Mondays website: https://greatmondays.com
• Great Mondays Radio: https://radio.greatmondays.com
• Great Mondays YouTube: https://youtube.com/@GreatMondays
• Get the book "Great Mondays" at greatmondays.com

Mental Health Support

This episode discusses workplace stress, burnout, and the challenges of scaling culture. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health:

UK:

• Samaritans: 116 123 (24/7 helpline) - https://www.samaritans.org/
• Mind: 0300 123 3393 or text 86463 - https://www.mind.org.uk/

US:

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988 (24/7) - https://988lifeline.org/
• NAMI Helpline: 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) - https://www.nami.org/

International:

• Befrienders Worldwide: https://www.befrienders.org/ (directory of crisis helplines worldwide)
• International Association for Suicide Prevention: https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/ (global crisis center directory)

Connect with Your Hosts

• Connect with Al on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisalelliott/
• Connect with Leanne on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetleanne
• Join the discussion about this episode on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/truthlieswork/
• Email: podcast@TruthLiesandWork.com
• Follow us on Instagram: @truthlieswork
• Chat with us on X: @truthlieswork
• YouTube channel: @TruthLiesWork
• Check us out on TikTok: @truthlieswork

Want a chat about your workplace culture? hi@TruthLiesandWork.com

Got feedback/questions/guest suggestions? Email podcast@TruthLiesandWork.com