Acculturation

More Important Now Than Ever

Oct 28, 2025

I heard the word acculturation used at TEDAI across multiple panels, and it piqued my curiosity.

In the first session where I heard it, it was used to describe the tension between AI and the next generation of hires, as well as the challenge of integrating technology not just into our workflows, but into our ways of being.

Acculturation isn’t about just learning something new; it’s about becoming fluent in the culture that surrounds it. It’s what happens when knowledge meets belonging, when tools meet values, when capability meets identity.

And whether we’re talking about AI, onboarding a new employee, or reentering a changing world, acculturation is at the heart of it.

NOW: Living Between Two Worlds

Every era of change brings a kind of cultural dissonance, a lag between what we know and what we’re becoming.

Today, that dissonance has a digital pulse.

Younger hires are entering workplaces built by analog minds.
AI natives are joining organizations still powered by legacy rhythms.
Leaders are trying to translate wisdom earned in one culture into another that moves at algorithmic speed, yet many are still transitioning themselves. They juggle between being unmoored and leading the team with a sense of confidence.

According to Deloitte’s 2025 Human Capital Trends, 67% of executives say their biggest challenge isn’t adopting AI, it’s aligning culture fast enough to keep up with it.

That’s acculturation in action. Not the technical adoption of a tool, but the cultural integration of a new way of thinking.

Ask yourself:

~ What part of my professional culture am I still holding onto that no longer fits?

~ How fluent am I in the new language of technology and human collaboration?

~ Do I adapt, or do I resist—quietly or otherwise?

NEW: The Human Side of Onboarding

Acculturation also shows up in a more familiar form: onboarding.

Not just the HR version, but the deeper, human kind.

Every time someone new joins a company, there’s a period of transition, as well as translation. They bring fresh energy, fresh perspective, fresh friction.

If culture is “how things get done when no one’s looking,” then acculturation is how people learn to look in the same direction without losing their individuality.

Harvard Business Review recently found that employees who feel culturally integrated within their first 90 days are 2.7x more likely to stay for three years or more.

So much of leadership today is not about control; it’s about cultural translation. Helping people acculturate to the way your organization thinks, acts, and creates meaning.

Ask yourself:

~ What’s the first story a new hire learns when they join your world?

~ What are you unintentionally teaching through your daily behaviors?

~ Are you inviting people to assimilate or to co-create the next chapter?

Share Now I New I Next

NEXT: Acculturating to the Future

Acculturation isn’t just about fitting in; it’s about becoming fluent in change itself.

We’re all being asked to integrate faster than ever:

AI is rewriting the grammar of creativity.
Hybrid work is redefining what culture even means.
Generational values are reshaping what leadership looks like.

In this landscape, the people and organizations that thrive won’t be the ones who resist or race ahead. They’ll be the ones who learn to live in translation, bridging what was with what’s emerging.

This is where ShiftStory™ finds its resonance. Because to shift your story is to acculturate deliberately. To absorb new insights without losing your essence. To integrate new tools without outsourcing your humanity.

THE PAYOFF: The Culture Within

In the Now, we recognize that we’re all living between old and new worlds.

In the New, we learn that real acculturation is not just about adapting—it’s about aligning.

In the Next, we practice carrying our culture forward, even as we rewrite it.

Whether you’re a leader onboarding talent, an organization adopting AI, or a person evolving through change, the question is the same:

Can you adapt without losing yourself?

The future will belong to those who can carry their story across cultures, without leaving their humanity behind.

“We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” — Jimmy Carter

Call to Action: How Do You Handle Acculturation?

Remember back to the last time you had to acculturate into a new organization. How did you navigate the way things were done, yet inject a “better way” or a “why do you do it this way” kind of vibe?

Now imagine that you are the person leading a new hire into your organization.

How are you going to navigate that reality in this AI-infused culture?

Are you open to a better way than the one you know or perhaps created?

You are about to realize a ShiftStory™. You may be surprised by what you find.

It’s just 24 minutes away.

I’m Tobin Trevarthen. I am a Narratologist. I am a fusion of coach, mentor, and practitioner. My purpose is to enable you to shift your story from who you are to who you are becoming. Welcome to ShiftStory™.

ShiftStory™ is my evolved idea for building narrative agency in a rapidly changing world, where yesterday’s containers and approaches are no longer valid. I fundamentally believe we are entering a new Renaissance, and owning your story will become more paramount than ever before.

My ShiftStory™ is an intentional evolution: I am building a company and a life where relationships are consciously cultivated through reciprocity. Every connection is formed with purpose, and every decision is guided by mutual support and shared value.

My narrative is not just for those I serve; it is the story I am choosing to live, moving away from the pursuit of scale and toward a future defined by meaningful, reciprocal relationships.

Follow me on LinkedIn. DM at tobin@spatialshift.com or sign up for the ShiftStory™ here: https://shiftstory.co/