CultureScienceCards | Organisational Development Online

Most culture conversations happen to your people.

This one happens with them.

No presentations. No expert telling your organisation what good looks like. Just 80 cards, tables of 5–6, and the most honest conversation most teams have ever had about how they actually work.

A Culture Design Lab. 2.5–3 hours. Any group size.

Run a Lab with us → See how it works

Run a Lab with us

See how it works

1,500+ people have experienced a Lab

50+ New Zealand organisations

60 minute - 3 hrs any group size

"I finally understand why I do my best work here — and now I can see what we'd need to build more of it." — Participant, A Culture Design Lab

There's nothing as practical as a good theory.

THE IDEA BEHIND IT

People don't change through instruction — they change when their environment makes the right behaviour the natural one.

A Culture Design Lab is where your people discover, together, what that environment looks like for them. No one tells your organisation what good culture looks like. They work it out themselves — and that's precisely why it sticks.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE ROOM

80 CARDS. EVERY TABLE. EVERY VOICE.

Groups of 5–6 sit together, each table with its own full deck of 80 Culture Science Cards. The cards are dealt to everyone — so from the very first moment, every person has skin in the game. No warm-up. No icebreaker. You start.

One card is exposed at a time. The table discusses it together — not whether it's good or bad in theory, but whether they want it present in how they work.

"If we had this mindset in our team — what value would it bring?"

"What might be the downside of having it present?"

Each table builds its own picture — above and below the line.

Goal directed Creative Authentic Collaborative Empowering Empathetic Confident

— THE LINE —

Dependent Conventional Fearful Controlling Demanding Validating Competitive

Above the line = want more of this. Below = want less energy here. Every table builds its own version — and the differences between tables are as revealing as the agreements. People photograph this. It belongs to the team.

When every table has finished, the room opens up.

People move between tables, compare what they've built, and discuss the differences. One table's "competitive" sits above the line. Another's is firmly below it. That conversation — the why — is where the real discovery lives.

The three moves every Lab makes:

Each table builds its own picture independently. Every voice heard. Every perspective on the table. No groupthink.
Tables compare, discuss differences, explore the why. The disagreements are the point — that's where the culture lives.
The whole room agrees on a shared ideal — built together. Not imposed. Not assumed. Agreed.

The closing questions:

Which cards above the line need more focus right now?
Which cards below the line are we still feeding energy into?
What systems or processes — ones we take for granted — might be creating these constraints?

How it scales

From a team of 5 to a conference of 260

The format is identical regardless of group size — tables of 5–6, each with a full deck. More tables means more perspectives, richer cross-table discussion, and a more complete picture of the organisation's culture.

5–6 people · · · · · 1 table — single team session

30 people

5 tables — larger team session

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60 people

10 tables — Leadership Team

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250 people

42 tables — conference keynote

A team session or a conference keynote. The format fits both.

5–15 PEOPLE Team session. A focused discovery for a single team. Ideal for new teams, leadership groups, or anyone wanting clarity on how they work best.

20–60 PEOPLE Organisation event. Multiple tables, one room. Cross-functional groups discover their individual pictures — then converge on a shared ideal.

60–500+ PEOPLE Conference or offsite. A keynote that actually does something. Participants leave having built something real together — not just listened.

WHO BOOKS IT

A Lab isn't remedial. It's not for teams in crisis. It's for anyone who wants to understand what they've got — and see what's possible.

HR and people leads book it for a high-impact culture conversation that doesn't require a 12-month programme to deliver something real. Leaders book it for offsites where they want genuine insight, not a facilitated agreement.

Conference organisers book it because a keynote that produces something — a shared picture every participant helped build — is worth more than one people forget on the drive home. Business owners book it early, before the habits set and the assumptions become invisible.

Developed and proven in Aotearoa New Zealand. Not an imported methodology. Over 2,000 New Zealanders across 50+ organisations have experienced a Culture Design Lab. We know what happens in the room because we've been in a lot of rooms.

Most organisations start with a single Lab — one team, 2.5 hours — then decide what comes next once they've felt the reaction in the room. No commitment beyond the session itself.

BOOK A LAB

READY TO RUN A CULTURE DESIGN LAB?

Get in touch and we'll talk through what a Lab could look like for your group — no commitment, just a conversation.

Email us at info@culturesciencecards.com

No obligation. We'll talk through whether a Lab is the right fit before anything is confirmed.

Labs can also be run by a certified Culture Science Cards facilitator. [Find a facilitator →]