163. Tiny Culture Change - Kill 1 Stupid Rule - with Prina Shah
In this short episode of Ways to Change Your Workplace, Prina Shah explores a simple but powerful leadership action: removing one pointless rule from your organisation.
Every workplace has them - outdated policies, unnecessary approvals, or processes that exist simply because “that’s how it’s always been done.” While they may seem harmless, these rules quietly send a dangerous message: that bureaucracy matters more than common sense.
Prina explains how eliminating even one unnecessary rule can spark trust, ownership, and initiative within teams. Culture doesn’t change through posters or slogans - it changes when leaders actively remove barriers that make work harder than it needs to be.
If you’re serious about improving culture, start small. Start practical. Start by killing one stupid rule.
In This Episode
Prina explores:
- Why every organisation has at least one pointless rule
- How unnecessary processes slowly kill initiative
- The hidden message bureaucracy sends to employees
- Why culture change happens through action, not posters
- A simple leadership exercise to identify and remove one rule
- How removing friction builds trust and momentum
A Simple Leadership Challenge
Ask your team one question this week:
“If you could kill one rule or process that makes your job harder for no reason — what would it be?”
Then:
- Choose one genuinely low-risk rule
- Remove it
- Tell your team what you removed and why
- Invite the next suggestion
Small actions like this build cultures of trust, ownership, and common sense.
Key Insight
Culture isn’t changed by statements on the wall.
It changes when leaders remove the small, unnecessary things that make work harder than it needs to be.
Reflection Question
What is one rule or process in your workplace that everyone rolls their eyes at — but nobody has challenged?
Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace
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