If brands face a continual need to renew their value externally in order to sustain their margins, are cultures also subject to similar downward pressures? Is it in the nature of cultures, I wonder, to commoditise in terms of their meaning internally unless they are actively prevented from doing so?

And how much is it that – a “natural” decline in the emotive significance of the work over time – versus a decline in the collective sense of urgency or an inability to innovate that is responsible for a brand’s reduced strategic focus and complacent execution?