My friend, Jim, is a retired CEO who, over the years, assumed leadership in multiple floundering organizations. Jim’s experience revealed that a toxic culture can take five to six years to heal.  

Jim learned, when you try to change a culture, 20% of your workforce will typically embrace the change. 60% will be neutral, but the remaining 20% will become what Jim calls, “terrorists.” Terrorists will strive to destroy your culture. 

Jim discovered that rather than convincing the 60% to embrace the new culture, your initial time is better spent identifying and terminating the “terrorists.” Otherwise, they will poison your neutral employees. 

Proverbs 22:10 teaches, “Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.” 

It’s hard to dismiss several people, but the alternative is even worse.