New Research Reveals ”Last 8%” Culture Drives Dramatic Performance Gains, Now published in Harvard Business Review
NEW YORK – September 3, 2025 – Groundbreaking research into high-performance workplace cultures, spearheaded by the Institute for Health & Human Potential (IHHP), is now featured in Harvard Business Review. The findings detail a distinct culture type – termed the “Last 8% culture” – characterized by a unique balance of courage and connection, and demonstrate its notable impact on organizational success.
This research arrives as companies increasingly grapple wiht issues of employee retention, stalled innovation, and a need for greater accountability. IHHP’s work identifies a critical gap between cultures that prioritize safety and those that demand results, revealing that true high performance emerges when leaders and teams are equipped to navigate difficult conversations and take interpersonal risks. the “Last 8% Culture Map” framework categorizes workplace cultures into four types: Family, Transactional, Fear-Based, and Last 8%.Organizations achieving the Last 8% Culture experience measurable improvements, including a 35-50% reduction in delayed decisions and avoided conversations, millions saved in retention and conflict resolution costs, and faster execution with increased accountability. To further support leaders in cultivating this environment,IHHP has launched the Last 8% leader Assessment,a tool designed to measure a leader’s and team’s ability to take interpersonal risk and provide a roadmap for building courage and accountability.
“This is not theory,” explains JP Pawliw, IHHP co-founder and New York Times bestselling author. “It’s neuroscience and organizational psychology applied to the real world. When leaders and teams embrace their Last 8% moments, they unlock the courage and clarity to drive innovation, trust, and results.”
IHHP has spent over two decades working with organizations like NASA, Johnson & Johnson, Goldman Sachs, and the U.S. Navy SEALs to build courageous leaders and high-performance cultures based on behavioral science and emotional intelligence.
About IHHP: The Institute for Health & Human Potential is a global research and consulting company.
About JP Pawliw: JP Pawliw is a New York Times bestselling author, leadership expert, and co-founder of IHHP. His insights have appeared in harvard business review,Forbes, and The New York Times.
Media Contact: Nanda Grandison, Head of Marketing, email: [email protected]
