Your employees can spot fake change from a mile away. Like an app icon that changes but the junk UI stays the same.
Anyone else notice Goodreads changed their logo recently?
After years of low-level irritation with the crap UI on Goodreads, last year I switched over to StoryGraph (a MUCH better app!) to track my reading. But I kept the Goodreads app on my phone. When I saw the logo change, I was curious as to how they’d finally modernized their clunky interface.
What a disappointment—it’s just a shinier icon hiding the same frustrating user experience.
It reminded me of something I lived through at a previous company. Leadership rolled out shiny new values—including “relationships”—and spent millions training everyone on them. New posters, updated slide decks, inspiring speeches from executives.
But just like Goodreads, the interface underneath stayed exactly the same. The promotion criteria. The bonus structure. The behaviors that actually got rewarded.
Leaders who bulldozed through people still got bigger roles if they landed new customers. Performance trumped relationships every single time. Employees saw right through the logo change—and so did I. Eventually, the dissonance became unbearable, and I left.
Compare that to my next company. They didn’t just rebrand their values; they redesigned their entire interface. They identified specific behaviors, then audited every policy, process, and reward system to eliminate conflicts. Leaders who embodied the values were promoted. Those who didn’t, regardless of their numbers, were managed out.
The result? Employees actually believed in the values because they experienced them in their daily work—just like switching from Goodreads to StoryGraph gave me a completely different user experience, one that reflected the modern logo.
For executive teams, this is where real leadership is tested. What are you saying you want? And then what are you actually doing? What are you rewarding?
If you’re a leadership team embarking on culture development, here’s the question that separates high-performing leadership teams from the rest:
Are we changing our logo—or rebuilding our interface?
Because your people will always judge you by what they experience, not what’s written on the mousepad.
PS – If you’re a reader, find me on StoryGraph as @cmfarrell.
Looking to increase the cohesion, trust, and impact of your leadership team? Reach out and let’s discuss The Compass Team Experience and how I can help.
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