Culture Design: How to Build a High-Performing, Resilient Organization with Purpose

Strong cultures don't emerge by accident. They're built—with clarity, consistency, and design. This is your guide.

Today's leaders are navigating a storm of competing demands: rising economic and social pressures, rapid technological disruption, and a workforce that expects greater purpose and accountability than ever before. In this unpredictable climate, a weak culture erodes trust, loyalty, and performance. A strong one, by contrast, makes the difference between clarity and confusion, resilience and fragility.

It's time to get intentional about your company's culture.

In this practical and inspiring book, you'll find a clear, actionable framework—rooted in design thinking and inclusive leadership—to help you shape a culture that’s resilient, empowering, and built to last.

Culture Design brings together James D. White's expert perspective, informed by more than thirty years of operating experience across sectors and in the boardroom, with his daughter Krista White's millennial perspective of modern workers' expectations from their company and its culture. This powerful combination produces a masterful joint outlook on what makes leaders best suited to build cultures that work for all.

Together they've written an essential book with one central message: culture design is an indispensable pillar of strategy for organizations to thrive in the coming decades and beyond.

James D. White is a transformational leader with more than thirty years' experience in the consumer products, retail, and restaurant industries. As CEO of Jamba Juice from 2008 to 2016, he led the successful turnaround and transformation of the company. He is a corporate director and adviser with twenty years of experience serving on more than fifteen public and private boards. White currently chairs the board of the Honest Company. He is the cofounder, Chair, and CEO of JDWhite Design Labs.

Krista White is a multigenre nonfiction and fiction writer. As a cofounder of JDWhite Design Labs, her work focuses on research, in-depth interviews, and harnessing her writing and storytelling skills to craft powerful narratives. In addition to her work at JDWhite Design Labs, Krista has consulted with individuals and companies on their strategies for intentional culture design, inclusion, and racial justice. She is also the founder and CEO of Kiki For the Future, a platform for LGBTQIA+ sex education.