I Used to Call It a Game. Here’s Why That’s No Longer Enough.

Why We’re Shifting the Language

When I first launched The Emotional Culture Deck back in 2017, I called it a tool. A game, even. Something that helped people discuss their feelings at work in a way that felt human, not forced.

And it worked. The simplicity of the deck helped teams open up. It got leaders listening. It made emotion a safe thing to talk about.

But over the years, something bigger happened.

People started using it again. And again. They built rituals around it. They used it to design culture. To lead teams. To manage change. To reshape stakeholder experiences.

They weren’t just playing a game. They were working a system.

Why It Matters Now

The more this work has spread, the clearer the pattern became.

The people creating real, lasting impact weren’t just using the deck as a one-off tool. They were using it to embed new ways of relating, leading, and designing how people feel at work.

The Emotional Culture Deck has gone beyond a deck of cards. It's still at the heart of it all. But it’s no longer just a deck of cards. It’s part of something bigger.

And that didn’t happen by accident.

Over the years, we’ve built a system around it. A structure that helps people design, embed, and grow emotional culture in real, practical ways.

So now we’re naming it for what it truly is:

R&E’s Emotional Culture System.

This is the system.

Four domains. One emotionally connected approach. The emotional backbone of culture, leadership, change, and stakeholder experience. 

Each of these four flagship frameworks is a complete system in itself. Together, they help you design an emotion strategy that shapes how your people connect, lead, adapt, and perform.

This Isn’t About Dismissing the Deck 

I love that people call it a game. That language made this work accessible and unthreatening. I still believe play is a powerful force in starting your culture change and emotion conversations with sceptics and cynics.

But we’ve outgrown the idea of it being a game or "just a tool."

This is now a system.

A modular, human system for emotional performance. And it includes:

• The specialist ECD tools: canvases, handbooks, and conversation guides ,plus all our community tools

• Rituals that embed emotional habits into daily work
  

• Frameworks for leadership, change, culture, and stakeholder experience

• Programmes and pathways that help people grow into emotionally intelligent practitioners

It’s a system you can enter from many angles. And one that evolves as you grow.

Start where it matters most. Expand as you go. 

This map shows how we grow with you. Emotional culture, leadership, change, and stakeholder all work together, and influence and connect with each other. They are each entry points that lead to a more holistic approach to designing what matters to your organisation, brand or team.

We've Updated Our Certification Pathways to Reflect This

Our new ECD Certified Pathways are designed to match the depth of the system.

• Four specialist entry points: Culture, Leadership, Change, and Stakeholder

• Three certification levels: Practitioner, Consultant, and Master

• Six recognition tiers: From Rising to Elite, tracking your real-world growth and contribution

It’s not just about ticking boxes or attending a workshop. It’s about building emotional culture at scale. Step by step, layer by layer. So whether you're just getting started or building emotional culture at scale, this pathway supports you every step of the way.

The Bottom Line

If you love calling it a game, keep calling it that. But know that what you’re actually part of is something bigger.

It’s a living system for emotional culture. One that helps people feel, connect, and perform like never before.

This system doesn’t just change how people feel and perform. It changes how you lead. 

Curious how to go deeper with this work? 

Explore the ECD Certified Consultant Pathway →

Want a quick intro before diving in? Watch this to get a feel for what the pathway is and how it works