The Return of the Fire Horse

The Fire Horse Rises: A New Year, A Needed Reckoning

In the Chinese zodiac, each year tells a story.

And 2026 brings the return of one of the boldest: the Fire Horse.

A symbol of fierce independence and uncontainable spirit, the Fire Horse isn’t here to maintain the status quo. It’s here to disturb it, to burn away the dull, the tired, the empty rituals we keep repeating just because we always have.

Historically, Fire Horse years made people nervous. Too much power. Too much unpredictability. In 1966, birth rates dropped across East Asia as families tried to avoid raising a daughter “too difficult to marry.”

But maybe the Fire Horse wasn’t too much.

Maybe it was just a few decades early.

The Fire Horse invites something different. Not reckless change, but intentional shedding. Not more hustle, but honest questions. Not louder leadership, but braver one.

This Lunar New Year, maybe the tradition we need isn’t red envelopes or lion dances. Maybe it’s reflection.

Ask yourself:

Where has the fire gone… and where is it trying to return?

Because in a Fire Horse year, stillness isn’t peace. It’s a signal.

It means something is ready to move.

Why Culture Without Care Always Degrades

Ever cleaned out your car, only to find it messy again a week later?

That’s entropy.

In physics, it teaches a key lesson: too much restriction creates fragility. But the same thing happens in business. That’s what entropism is, when relationships, culture, and trust degrade not because of a crisis, but because no one noticed they were fraying.

Gallup’s 2025 report shows only 21% of employees are engaged, and just one in three feel they’re thriving. Most strikingly, 60% say they feel emotionally detached at work, not loud disconnection, just quiet indifference.

Not because anything terrible happened. But because nothing happened.

No space to reconnect. No pause to check the pulse. No intentional energy to keep the culture alive.

This is entropy in action:

A team that once laughed together now eats lunch in silence.

Values that were once lived now live only on a poster.

Leaders who once asked, “How are you really?” now say, “Let’s circle back.”

Entropy Doesn’t Announce Itself

It doesn’t come with alarms or red flags.
It shows up in the things we stop paying attention to.

It’s a presence problem.

Culture doesn’t collapse overnight. It erodes slowly, unless we consciously care for it. Unless we notice what’s drifting. Unless we name what’s no longer working and choose to rebuild before it breaks.

If something feels off, you’re not imagining it.

You’re just finally noticing the fade.

Culture does not repair itself. It responds to intention.
We work alongside leaders and teams to restore what matters before it disappears, and to build ways of working that are cared for, not just managed.

Explore what that could look like for you.