Systems Simplified Building a Culture of Ownership and Accountability With Chris Dyer
Jan 2, 2026
In this engaging conversation, Chris Dyer, a workplace culture expert and bestselling author, shares his journey from controlling decisions to empowering teams for growth. He reveals how shifting to an ownership-driven culture fosters innovation and confidence among employees. Chris discusses practical tactics, like stepping back from decision-making and encouraging experimentation, as well as his Seven Pillars of Amazing Culture. He also addresses the unique challenges and advantages of adapting company culture in remote environments.
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Recession Prompted A Culture Overhaul
- Chris Dyer realized during the 2009 recession that his company culture was broken and he had created a bottleneck by making all decisions himself.
- He then committed to making the company the best workplace employees would ever experience, even if they later left or retired.
Bottlenecks Kill Speed And Innovation
- Bottlenecked decision-making unintentionally trains teams to defer to the leader, stalling innovation and speed.
- Empowering people to act creates faster learning cycles and better collective ideas than relying on one brain.
Unprompted Team Ideas Drove COVID Pivot
- During COVID Chris received an unsolicited Slack meeting invite and five people presented three ideas without his prompting.
- One idea became a successful, early consumer COVID test offering that generated significant revenue before mass retail adoption.
