Rather than a prime mover, culture can be read as an emergent outcome of repeated actions and routines; once these patterns become widely shared and taken for granted (institutionalised as schemas or norms), they start exerting top-down influence on behaviour.

This view connects directly to learning loops: when organisations fail to review the effectiveness of decisions and policies, weak or harmful routines can sediment into “the way we do things here”, dampening learning and adaptability.