Trying to Solve a Puzzle Without the Picture? You’re Not Alone.

Imagine someone hands you a box of puzzle pieces.

There’s no picture on the cover—just a pile of random shapes and colors. You start putting pieces together, but something feels off. Some connect easily, but others? They don’t fit at all.

At first, you think, Maybe I just need to focus harder. Maybe it’ll all come together eventually.

Then it hits you:

Some of these pieces don’t even belong to the same puzzle.

Now you’re stuck. Do you try to force the pieces together? Do you wait and hope the full picture somehow reveals itself? Or do you stop and admit that you don’t have all the right pieces to begin with?

This? This is what it feels like to run a business right now.

Companies are trying to build a clear, consistent strategy, but the reality is that leaders are being handed puzzle pieces from different boxes:

• External messaging that’s shifting to meet today’s business climate.
• Internal investments in leadership, retention, and culture that still matter.
• Stakeholders—employees, clients, and investors—who aren’t sure what to believe.

And that disconnect? It’s creating confusion.

• Employees are wondering: Are we still committed to building a great culture, or is this quietly fading away?
• Clients are wondering: Does this company still align with our values, or should we rethink this partnership?
• Shareholders are wondering: Is this a smart long-term strategy or just a reaction to current pressures?

And here’s the thing:

People don’t wait for clarity.

They make assumptions. They disengage. Some walk away.

And what you don’t know? That’s what’s costing you—trust, loyalty, innovation, and revenue.

We get it. This is the new normal. The pieces don’t all fit neatly, and you don’t always have a clear picture of the road ahead.

That’s where we come in.

We’ve spent 20 years uncovering what’s really happening inside organizations. Through Coqual’s Insights In-Depth™ research and Culture Audits, we help companies figure out where their puzzle pieces aren’t fitting—so they can rebuild trust, engagement, and long-term success.

We’d love to work with you on your specific challenges. But to start, here are three ways to listen better—without the corporate fluff.

1. Write Better, More Incisive Questions (Because Your Surveys Are Too Nice to Be Useful)

Most employee surveys are like asking, “Do you like this meal?” when you should be asking, “What would make this better?”

A few years ago, a company we worked with was thrilled with their employee survey results. Ninety percent of employees said they were engaged. Leadership celebrated.

Meanwhile, their retention rates were plummeting.

People were leaving, and leadership had no idea why. The survey had focused on engagement—“Do you like your job?”—but skipped the deeper questions about trust, career growth, and leadership transparency.

Employees liked their work, but they didn’t see a future there. Leadership wasn’t communicating a clear path forward, and employees were quietly planning their exits.

A few sharper questions could have saved them millions in lost talent.

What to do instead:

• Ask about moments, not just feelings. Instead of “Do you feel included?” try “Tell us about a time when you felt truly valued—or invisible—at work.”
• Get real about leadership trust. Instead of “Do you trust leadership?” ask, “What’s one decision leadership made in the past year that strengthened (or weakened) your trust in them?”
• Test your survey before you send it. If your employees aren’t telling you things you didn’t already know, your questions aren’t deep enough.

2. BRGs Aren’t Just for Potlucks—They’re Your Culture Early Warning System

A lot of companies treat Business Resource Groups (BRGs) like a nice-to-have—great for community building, fun for organizing events, but not essential to the business.

But BRGs aren’t just about networking. They’re the best real-time indicator of what’s actually happening inside your company.

Think of them as your workplace seismographs—they pick up shifts in culture before the earthquake happens.

Take this real-life example:

A company we worked with noticed declining participation in their Black employee network. Leadership assumed it was because people were “too busy.” But when we ran a Culture Audit, we found the real issue: Black employees felt like their concerns weren’t making it past BRG meetings. They were exhausted from speaking up without seeing action.

One employee put it bluntly:
“We’ve talked about the same issues for two years. Leadership smiles, nods, and nothing changes. Why would I keep showing up?”

That’s not a BRG problem. That’s a trust problem.

What to do instead:

• Give BRG leaders a seat at real strategy meetings, not just “check-ins.”
• Fund BRG-led research to capture workforce sentiment in real time.
• Treat BRGs as Culture Labs, where employees don’t just share problems but actively test and refine solutions.

This isn’t about making BRGs work harder. It’s about actually listening to the people closest to the cultural shifts happening inside your company.

3. Silence Isn’t Approval—Your Clients and Shareholders Are Watching

Just because your clients and investors aren’t asking about your culture strategy doesn’t mean they don’t care.

Most of the time, they do care. They’re just watching from a distance, wondering:

• Are you still investing in leadership and inclusion, or are you just avoiding the topic?
• Is this a smart strategy shift, or are you cutting things quietly?
• Does leadership actually have a long-term vision, or are they just reacting to the moment?

And if they don’t get clarity? They assume. And those assumptions may not be in your favor.

A Fortune 500 company we worked with was shocked when a major client pulled out of a long-term deal. The reason? The client thought the company had abandoned its focus on inclusive leadership—simply because it stopped talking about it externally. No one from the company had reached out to explain the shift in strategy.

That silence? It cost them millions.

What to do instead:

• Hold “Truth Sessions” with key clients and shareholders—small, high-trust, off-the-record conversations where they can share what they really think.
• Instead of a one-way town hall, hold a Listening Roundtable, where executives don’t present—they ask and absorb.
• Use anonymous shareholder listening tools to capture candid insights you won’t get in official reports.

The Bottom Line: What You Don’t Know Is Costing You

If you’re not actively listening—to employees, clients, and investors—you’re making decisions with missing pieces.

We can help. What’s your biggest listening gap right now?