Do you know what’s often called The Magic Penny Problem?

Here’s the quick version: someone offers you a choice between taking 3 million dollars (or euros) in cash right now, or a single penny that doubles every day for 31 days. Most people, without thinking too much, would grab the 3 million. It feels obvious: a huge, tangible sum versus a ridiculous penny. But the counterintuitive truth is that, by the end of those 31 days, the penny has grown into more than 10.7 million. That’s the fascinating power of compound interest and consistency.

Look at the path: by day 5, you’d have just 16 cents, by day 10 about $5.12, and by day 20 only $5,243. At first glance, it looks disappointing. If you stopped there, you’d think you made a terrible decision. But the magic happens in the final stretch: from day 20 to day 31, when the growth explodes exponentially and that “silly penny” becomes more than triple the initial offer.

The lesson goes far beyond math. This applies directly to Corporate Culture. Because an organization is not what it prints in its value statements on the website, but what it does—and what it tolerates—day after day. It’s the accumulation of repeated, consistent behaviors that gradually shape the company’s collective identity.

As Steve Gruenert and Todd Whitaker write in School Culture Rewired: “The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate.” Combine that idea with compound interest and the picture is crystal clear: every small bad habit, every toxic behavior that is allowed to slide—even if it looks irrelevant—stacks up. Day after day, silently, it ends up defining the entire organization, its reputation, and the environment where employees, clients, and competitors operate.

“The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate.”.

Steve G., Todd W. – School Culture Rewired

The message is simple: consistency builds or destroys. Just like the penny that seemed insignificant, the sum of small daily actions has a massive multiplier effect.

Don’t tolerate toxic behaviors, and certainly not on repeat. Because what feels anecdotal today will become tomorrow’s culture.