The hidden cost of performative culture in learning organizations

Purpose The aim of this article is to present a viewpoint that performative culture disrupts organizational learning by eroding alignment between espoused values, system design, and lived experience. Design/methodology/approach This article adopts a conceptual and practitioner-oriented approach, drawing on foundational theories of organizational culture and learning to examine how misalignment between values and systems shapes organizational behavior. The discussion integrates insights from organizational culture and learning frameworks to reinterpret performative culture as a system design issue. Findings The article identifies that performative culture undermines organizational learning in three key ways: by eroding trust through inconsistent signals, fragmenting systems and reducing coherence, and suppressing feedback necessary for adaptation. These conditions limit an organization’s ability to learn continuously and respond effectively to change. Research limitations/implications As a conceptual viewpoint, this article does not present empirical findings but offers a theoretically grounded interpretation of performative culture as a system design issue. Future research should examine how misalignment between espoused values and operational systems influences organizational learning outcomes, including trust, feedback behaviors, and system coherence across different organizational contexts. Practical implications Leaders can strengthen organizational learning by aligning espoused values with operational systems, reducing fragmentation across initiatives, reinforcing outcomes over visibility, and designing systems that provide clarity and navigability. Addressing performative culture requires shifting from messaging to system-level alignment. Originality/value This article reframes performative culture as a system design problem rather than a communication or leadership issue. It extends existing work in organizational culture and learning by linking misalignment between espoused values and operational systems directly to disruptions in organizational learning, offering a practical lens for diagnosing and improving learning environments.