Fix the Roots: Why Most Workplace Culture Fails: Abi Adamson & Adam Posner: LIVE @ Transform 2026

#thePOZcast is proudly brought to you by Fountain - the leading enterprise platform for workforce management. Our platform enables companies to support their frontline workers from job application to departure. Fountain elevates the hiring, management, and retention of frontline workers at scale. To learn more, please visit: https://www.fountain.com/?utm_source=shrm-2024&utm_medium=event&utm_campaign=shrm-2024-podcast-adam-posner. Thanks for listening, and please follow us on Insta @NHPTalent and www.youtube.com/thePOZcast For all episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Key Takeaways:  - Culture doesn’t fail because of bad intentions. It fails because of poorly designed systems. - Abi’s SERN framework reframes organizations as ecosystems, not machines. If the roots are toxic—lack of trust, poor leadership behaviors, invisible power dynamics—nothing built on top will thrive. - Psychological safety isn’t about being agreeable. It’s about creating an environment where honesty isn’t punished, and where leaders are willing to admit they don’t have all the answers. - Most organizations don’t lack diverse perspectives—they lack the structures to surface them. The same voices dominate because the system rewards them. - Leaders looking for change don’t need a massive initiative. They need to start by asking a simple question: who’s not in the room, and why? - Finally, culture isn’t owned by HR or leadership alone. It’s shaped by every interaction, every decision, and every behavior that gets reinforced—or ignored. CHAPTERS:  00:00 – Live from Transform: Setting the stage for real talk on culture02:30 – Why organizations treat people like a monolith (and why it fails)06:10 – The SERN framework: Soil, Exposure, Roots, Nutrients10:45 – Diagnosing culture problems: It’s not surface-level—it’s in the roots14:20 – The hidden systems that quietly undermine inclusion18:05 – Psychological safety, stripped of the buzzword22:30 – Reframing failure as experimentation25:10 – Why “confidence” is often misunderstood (and misused)30:00 – Why you keep hearing the same voices in meetings34:15 – Simple, immediate fixes leaders can make tomorrow38:40 – Why culture is everyone’s responsibility—not just leadership42:10 – Transparency, authenticity, and the truth leaders avoid46:00 – Equity vs equality: a simple but critical distinction49:30 – The risk of losing the human element in an AI-driven world52:00 – Final reflections: where culture is heading next