http://www.thatculturething.com/

That Culture Thing, DLF Phase 5, Gurugram (2026)

04/05/2025

Last month, I read this brilliant little book called “𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡: 𝐀 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝐌𝐚𝐱𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥”.

It’s short, quirky and gorgeously illustrated.

But don’t let the title fool you... this isn’t a book about bugs. It’s a book about 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦.

About what happens when we stop running from discomfort… and learn to hold it instead. 𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚.

🪳 The “cockroach” is a metaphor for everything we avoid:
𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞. 𝐑𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞.

That one email you’ve been dodging.
And the magic lies in not fighting it but facing it with softness.
This is my visual love letter to the book.
From 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 and 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦 to 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫...
it offered me a completely different lens.

More human. More compassionate. More... real.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in your own head, juggling invisible “𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒔,” I think this might resonate.

Take a scroll through. And if it stirs something in you...

Tell me: What’s your cockroach? 👇🏽

28/02/2025

“𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬.”

We love for making mainstream. But did it really show how therapy works?

👉🏾 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞?
👉🏾 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭?
👉🏾 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞?

The movie got some things right but it also blurred some serious ethical boundaries.

I broke it all down in this 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧.

Swipe through the full post to see what Dear Zindagi got right and what it didn’t.

👇 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞
🔁 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬!
💬 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬!

20/02/2025

𝐓𝐡𝐞 “𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐤” 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 - 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤

🔥 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡?

You know the type:
✔️ They deliver results.
✔️ They solve big problems.
✔️ They might even be the “best” on the team.

But… they interrupt, dismiss ideas, take credit for others’ work or create an environment where people hesitate to speak up. Yet, companies keep them because, well… 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦.

👉 Netflix coined the term “𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐤” for a reason.

At first, their behavior seems manageable... a few snide remarks, some arrogance, maybe an outburst or two. Nothing too bad, right?

📉 Until suddenly, team morale dips. People disengage. Top talent starts leaving.
What’s happening? 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐭.

🛑 Just like 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐭 piles up when bad code isn’t fixed, 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐭 builds when toxic behavior is ignored.

And by the time leadership realizes the cost, it’s often too late.

So, what do you do?

✅ Recognize the dark arena. In the Johari Window, we all have blind spots—things others see but we don’t. If toxicity is brewing, ignoring it only makes it worse.
✅ Call it out early. Don’t wait for people to quit. Have 1-on-1 conversations, give feedback, and set clear expectations.
✅ Offer support. Many behaviors are coachable. Training, mentorship, and awareness can turn things around.
✅ Be ready to act. If nothing changes, let them go. A toxic top performer may seem like an asset, but the long-term damage to culture, trust, and retention will cost you far more than their short-term results ever brought in.

🚀 𝑪𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒆𝒔—𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆.

💬 Have you seen a “brilliant jerk” in action? What happened next? Drop your thoughts below! ⬇️

18/02/2025

Are You Too Nice at Work? It Might Be Costing You.

I once knew a colleague who was always the nice guy.
- He helped everyone.
- Took on extra work.
- Never said no.

But when promotion time came?
He was overlooked.

Because here’s the harsh truth:
👉 Being nice isn’t the same as being respected.
👉 If you don’t advocate for yourself, no one will.
👉 Kindness without boundaries turns into invisibility.

📌 Research shows that people associate leadership with assertiveness, not agreeableness.
If you’re always the go-to person but never the promoted person—this is for you.

🎡 Swipe through the carousel to learn:
✅ How being too nice can hurt your career.
✅ Why “likeability” comes with a hidden cost.
✅ How to be kind without being a doormat.

🔄 Repost if this hit home.
💬 Drop a comment: Have you ever felt too nice at work?
🚀 Follow me for more insights on workplace psychology & leadership!

01/05/2023

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

Today we're taking a moment to honor the hard work and dedication of workers everywhere. From doctors and nurses to wait staff and janitors, every profession deserves recognition for the sweat, tears, and grit that goes into their work.

Our Labor Day post features stories of unsung heroes, juggling work and family, and pushing for equality and justice in the workplace.

Join us in celebrating the dignity of labor and all the people who make our world a better place.

11/03/2023

Belated Happy Women's Day! 🎉

I just facilitated an workshop with the leap.club community and it was amazing! 😃

We discussed the five types of impostor syndrome: The Perfectionist, The Natural Genius, The Soloist, The Superwoman/Superman, and The Expert. 🤓

Here are some key takeaways:
👉 Impostor Syndrome is common, with 70% of people feeling it at some point in their lives.
👉 Perfectionism is self-imposed handcuffs that rob us of our growth and well-being.
👉 Don't compare the bloopers of your life to someone's highlights.
👉 Instead of proving yourself, improve yourself! 🚀
👉 Start small and develop a growth mindset.
👉 Be compassionate to yourself, like you would be to a friend.

Remember, it's okay to take baby steps towards growth - we're all a work in progress! 😊

28/11/2022

Dissatisfaction 😠 says things could be better. Wisdom says they could be worse. “If only” breeds regret for what didn’t go right. “At least” builds gratitude for what didn’t go wrong.

A key to is spending more time appreciating what we have than lamenting what we don’t. - Adam Grant

Reflecting on

When we struggle to celebrate the presence of good things, we can still be thankful for the absence of bad things.

This ^ was the key learning for us as we celebrated Thanksgiving 2022 with super energetic and powerhouse kids from PRATYeK

Not only we had lots of fun, but we also organized a Thanksgiving activity where our client and kids shared their best memories and things they are grateful for with each other and drew it on paper.

Some of the things these kids were grateful for were:

1. Clean water 💦 and food 🥘 on the table
2. Strawberry 🍓 cake 🎂 on my birthday 🎉
3. Ganesh Chathurthi celebrations with family and friends
4. Environment and nature - lakes, mountains 🏔, stars ✨, birds 🦢, trees 🌳
5. My teacher 👩‍🏫
6. A picnic at India Gate
7. Shelter - At least I have a home now

Some of the things that client said after the activity were:

1. It was indeed a humbling experience seeing kids expressing for simple things in life
2. We focus so much on things that aren’t going well that makes us entitled and unhappy - this experience was truly needed

The key lesson for all of us this was that we notice ourselves cribbing a lot, complaining, and ruminating on things that aren’t going well with us than feeling thankful for what we have. Everyone in life has problems of different scales and intensities, no matter what we do and how much we grow or enjoy our privilege, there will always be something “not right”. is all about acknowledging the good things in life.

You feel happier when you see “what you have” and not “what you don’t have”. It’s a life changer and so easy to just try. It’s partly a mind trick too, you’re telling your brain to focus on the good stuff rather than the bad and then you keep reinforcing it. Life changer!

Thank you PRATYeK for this collaboration. Thank you to Brother Rocha for letting us be a part of this initiative and helping us feel grateful for the good things in life!

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24/10/2022

May this Diwali Come up with beautiful beginnings, fresh hopes and bright days & new dreams.

And may we accept both our dark and light sides.

Wishing you all a very Happy Diwali!
baruah |

20/10/2022

It's rare that you come across such CEOs and leaders who take their organizational culture so seriously. One such client is Zelto. We had the privilege to work with team Zelto in helping them define their organizational culture. It was a big day for the team when we shared the culture code with the company at large and took their feedback in real-time.

Here are some snippets. We are talking about 4 cardinal sins of organizational culture in this video:
1. Toxic Culture: When result orientation is much more than relationship orientation.
2. Mediocrity Culture: When relationship orientation is much more than the result orientation.
4. Bureaucratic Culture: When control is much more than freedom.
5. Anarchy Culture: When freedom is much more than strong leadership and grasp over the goals and mission.

An organization may have one of these or all these kinds of cultures. The right way to go about it is to find the right balance between the two continuums:
1. Result vs Relationship Orientation
2. Control vs Freedom

This is a starting point to understand the culture and decide on the way ahead depending on the company size, industry, business type, strategy, etc.

Curious to know more?

Shoot us an e-mail or just DM us. Will be glad to offer a free 30-minute consulting.

11/10/2022

On the occasion of yesterday, we did this mindfulness activity which we called "Serendipitous pay-it-forward affirmations" at powered by That Culture Thing

The idea was to show support and appreciation and inculcate a sense of community belongingness that we are in it together.  
Here's the activity and I think others can use it as well as when they want and not necessarily on 10th October 🌱 
1. Just put some empty nonsticky notes 🗒 and a few pens 🖊.

2. At the beginning of the day at the office, ask people to write down any well-being message or affirmations for their colleagues (without naming the colleague as it's meant to be serendipitous). For example - "Don't compare the bloopers 😞 of your life to someone's highlights 😃".

3. The writer can however add their name at the end of the message.

4. At the end of the day, when people leave from work, they pick up a chit randomly and that message becomes the serendipitous message that one needed to hear 👂 that day. 
Let me know what you think of the activity and if you're going to try it out! 
PS: Here's the message that I got from someone :)

It's a song but nonetheless, I feel that I am surrounded by these beautiful lights. And that that ‘lights’ will take me home which is a metaphor for good souls healing us back to health. They will ‘fix you’ back to your safe zones.

And who are my lights 💡?

My family, friends, colleagues, and loved ones. In gratitude 🙏🏽  

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