If one has read enough corporate management “literature” — an activity I strongly advise against — one quickly encounters the “culture eats ...” phrase. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” or it eats “policy,” or “plans,” very specifically the best-laid plans of new managers who wish to energize a business or take it in a fresh direction. The phrase in its many forms is widely — and perhaps falsely — attributed to the famous management “guru,” Peter Drucker. Drucker may not have said it quite so pungently, but he certainly expressed similar thoughts, and, were he still alive, he might well have adopted it for his own. It’s that popular, and it’s that powerful.

Why? Simply put, it’s because it offers a compelling explanation for why achieving change in any organization is surpassingly difficult. One reads all the time about “change agents” and their achievements, but, having watched more than a few of them in action, I was reminded repeatedly that the most loudly touted changes frequently came to nothing, and even the most carefully conceived and executed strategies quickly ran aground among the rocks and shoals of entrenched values.
In the wake of the recent elections, as conservatives of every stripe express hope that the tide has finally turned in their direction, we might well take a moment to remind ourselves of the challenges that lie ahead. This time round, it’s evident that Donald Trump is taking a more radical approach to establishing his administration.
Trump 45 relied to a great extent on the usual Republican suspects and churned through them as they repeatedly frustrated his agenda. Trump 47’s cabinet picks have been widely derided as “inexperienced” and lacking the stature to lead large government agencies, as witnessed, for example, by the strident criticisms of Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard. (READ MORE: Trump’s ‘Unqualified’ Courageously Diverse Appointees — and a Conservative Hope)
But what Trump seems to be about this time is something rather dif...