Culture isn't a poster. It's the rules nobody wrote down.

A ten module programme giving leaders the language, frameworks and tools to shape organisational culture with intention, built on the UGRs® framework.

Surface the unwritten rulesShift behaviour, not slogansMake change stick
70%Engagement variance explained by the line manager
250,000+Managers trained on the WCM platform
10Modules built on UGRs®
3,500+Engagements in 50+ countries

Trusted by 1,000+ organisations across 50 countries

HSBCBBCNHSUniversity of OxfordUniversity College LondonUK GovernmentFirstRandACCAMetropolitan PoliceRoyal College of PhysiciansThe Salvation ArmyRed Carnation Hotel CollectionKhan Bank MongoliaFinancial Regulatory Authority EgyptDay Lewis PharmacyChinese University of Hong KongCrowe

Two cultures. One choice.

Every team is running one of these right now. The question is whether it was chosen, or simply allowed to form.

Without UGR awareness

The invisible rules quietly draining performance.

  • “Around here, it's not worth raising concerns. Nothing ever changes.”
  • “Around here, the boss only talks to you when something's wrong.”
  • “Around here, speaking up gets you noticed for the wrong reasons.”
  • “Around here, new ideas go nowhere, so we stopped offering them.”
  • “Around here, mistakes are punished, not learned from.”

With World Class Cultures

The norms that drive exceptional performance.

  • “Around here, your voice genuinely shapes how we work.”
  • “Around here, leaders notice what's going well, and say so.”
  • “Around here, it's safe to raise a concern, and expected.”
  • “Around here, bold thinking gets a hearing and a real response.”
  • “Around here, mistakes are how we get better, together.”

A groundbreaking model for culture change.

Developed by Steve Simpson and Stef du Plessis over three decades inside organisations across the globe, from Formula 1 manufacturers to global financial institutions, the Unwritten Ground Rules (UGRs®) framework is the most practical, evidence-based model for understanding and shifting culture available today.

Unlike conventional programmes focused on aspirational values, the UGR approach starts with what is actually happening: the lived, behavioural reality of your workplace.

UGRs are not concepts. They are observations. And once you can see them, you can change them.

“Culture is simply how things really work around here. The unwritten rules that govern how people behave when no one senior is watching.”
Steve SimpsonSteve SimpsonCo-creator of UGRs®

01

Culture is behaviour

What people actually do, interaction by interaction, is the culture. Not what anyone says it is.

02

Behaviour drives results

Quality, productivity and retention are all downstream of behaviour. Change one, change the other.

03

Managers shape culture

The most powerful cultural influence in any team is the direct line manager. Not the CEO. Not HR.

04

UGRs run the show

The shared assumptions your team holds about how things really work. Invisible, powerful and changeable.

Ten modules. Transformative insight.

Each module is built around seven practical, behaviour-based actions designed to change what leaders do on Monday morning.

01What Really Shapes CultureFoundation · An unmissable introduction to UGRs, including a real-world social experiment.
  • A clear, working definition of culture rooted in behaviour, not aspiration
  • The single experiment that reframes how you see workplace norms
  • An honest first read of the UGRs already running your team
02How Norms Take HoldInsight · The mechanics of how culture takes root, and why intentions alone won't shift it.
  • The five ways UGRs are formed and reinforced inside teams
  • Why telling people the new values almost never works
  • Spotting the moments where a UGR is being set, in real time
03Reading Your CulturePractical tool · A simple, powerful method for surfacing the real UGRs in your team.
  • The Around Here conversation script, ready to use this week
  • How to create the safety needed for honest answers
  • A practical map of your team's current UGRs, positive and negative
04The Signals You SendSelf-awareness · How your silences, habits and reactions shape your team's culture.
  • The shadow side audit of your day to day leadership behaviour
  • Spotting the involuntary signals you send under pressure
  • How to recalibrate the signals that matter most
05Changing Patterns, Not PeopleAction · How to shift damaging norms without becoming the culture police.
  • The interrupt and redirect pattern for shifting norms in the moment
  • Small, repeated actions instead of grand pronouncements
  • Why naming the UGR is half the work of changing it
06Designing Better NormsCulture design · Building the culture people want to be part of, through deliberate leadership behaviour.
  • A method for naming the UGRs you want to install
  • How to model the new norm visibly and repeatedly
  • Designing the rituals that make new UGRs stick
07The Foundations of SafetyTrust · How UGRs enable or destroy psychological safety, and what leaders can do.
  • The behavioural anatomy of psychological safety
  • How to respond when someone risks raising the difficult thing
  • The most damaging UGR in low-trust organisations, and how to dismantle it
08What Gets In The WayChange leadership · How to engage those who resist, without burning bridges.
  • The four common resistance patterns, and how to engage each
  • Why the loudest sceptic is often your most useful ally
  • How to handle the silent saboteurs
09Making Change StickSustainability · The moment most change efforts quietly unravel, and how to prevent it.
  • The 90-day reinforcement model for any new norm
  • Why we-tried-that UGRs are so damaging
  • Building the team rituals that make change irreversible
10Leading That LastsLeadership legacy · A personalised commitment framework for life beyond the programme.
  • Your personal cultural legacy statement
  • The named UGR you will lead by, every day
  • A 12-month cadence of self-review, peer-check and team conversation

Culture is not a soft issue. It's a performance issue.

Six findings from leading research institutions that tell the same story: behaviour, not strategy, drives outcomes.

70%

of variance in team engagement and performance is explained by the direct line manager.

Gallup, State of the Global Workplace
17%

of employees say their organisation's meetings are productive, yet culture is shaped in these moments.

Harvard Business Review
2×

more likely to be engaged when team rituals feel purposeful and consistent.

Gallup Research
65%

increase in follow-through when people make a public commitment to behaviour change.

American Society of Training and Development
4.6×

more likely to feel able to do their best work when employees feel heard.

Salesforce Research
89%

of employees in high-trust organisations report greater satisfaction and productivity.

Harvard Business Review

What are your UGRs telling you?

Five honest questions, two minutes. Not a diagnostic, but an invitation to see your culture through the lens of behaviour, not aspiration.

Shaped to your organisation's reality.

Three delivery models. One framework. The right approach for your scale, geography and ambition.

Fully online

Self-paced access to all 10 modules with practical tools and workbooks. Ideal for distributed organisations.

Blended

Online modules combined with facilitated group sessions or live workshops for depth and application.

Coach supported

The highest impact model, with an experienced World Class Manager coach providing accountability and challenge.

For leaders who know culture matters, and are ready to act on it.

  • Senior leaders and C-suite executives seeking a practical model for cultural transformation
  • HR directors and people leaders responsible for organisational effectiveness
  • L&D and OD professionals designing enterprise leadership programmes
  • Consultants and culture practitioners working with client organisations
  • Change leaders navigating mergers, restructuring or major cultural shifts
  • Managers ready to lead their team's culture with intention

Built by the world's leading UGR practitioners.

Two of the foremost authorities on workplace culture, combining decades of original research and global practice.

Steve Simpson

Steve Simpson

Co-creator, UGRs®

“There is nothing more powerful in a team or an organisation than its UGRs. And yet they are seldom, if ever, talked about openly. That is the gap we exist to close.”

Steve has spent more than 30 years inside organisations across the globe, studying what actually drives culture. His framework has been applied across dozens of industries, from McLaren Automotive to global financial institutions.

Stef du Plessis

Stef du Plessis

Co-creator, UGRs® · Culture strategist

“I don't just talk culture. I get to understand your real, on-the-ground problems, build methods to solve them, and entrench tools that enable action and measure progress.”

A globally recognised culture practitioner with a Masters in Leadership, Stef has delivered 3,500+ engagements on five continents, with clients in more than 50 countries. Former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki cited the work's nation-building potential.

Wayne Clarke

Wayne Clarke

CEO, World Class Manager

“Their UGRs® framework is unlike anything else I have seen: rigorous, practical and grounded in the reality of how culture actually works.”

Having worked with more than 1,000 organisations, Wayne has seen first-hand that what separates teams that perform from those that get by comes down to culture, and to the unwritten rules that govern behaviour every day.

Two ways to get started.

The same full programme, licensed annually per person or as one unlimited package for your organisation.

Unlimited package

Every leader in your organisation

£25,000per year
  • 10 modules built on the UGRs® framework
  • Tools to diagnose and shift culture
  • CPD accredited certificate

Better value than per person licences from 56 people

Request a proposal

Annual licences only. Prices exclude VAT. CPD accredited. See all pricing

Three ways to take the next step.

Pick whatever fits where you are. We'll take it from there.

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See it in action.

Thirty minutes with a senior member of the team, using real scenarios your managers face.

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