Introduction Culture can be described as a system of knowledge, beliefs, procedures, attitudes, and artifacts that is shared within a group. That the cultures with which each of us connects exert a strong influence on our behaviors is beyond dispute. Recent research into the success of organizations has also shown that culture can exert a major influence on organizational performance. Evidence also suggests that most individuals prefer to participate in strong cultures, as opposed to weak ones. This seems almost paradoxical because strong cultures naturally tend to limit what we think and do in relation to the shared elements of the culture. By participating in a strong culture we may therefore be constraining our personal freedom. The present paper examines this paradox--that we seek shared values even at the cost of freedom--through the lens of informing. The core argument presented is that when we face highly complex environments, we must rely heavily upon observing others to increase our personal fitness, a term employed by evolutionary biologists to characterize an individual's relative ability to thrive in a particular environment. Unfortunately, environmental complexity also implies that we learn little from the actions and outcomes of others unless the individuals we observe happen to be similar to us in many ways. Culture serves as a mechanism for bringing together individuals with many shared traits. As a result, participating in one or more cultures provides us with the opportunity to make observations that are likely to be relevant to increasing our own fitness. The paper proceeds as follows. The existing literature is presented in two parts. First, a quick introduction to the concept of culture is provided, including a review of how culture is presented within the informing science transdiscipline, considering how shared culture can reduce the distortion caused by the various filters that interfere with individual informing. That is followed by a discussion of recent investigations regarding the impact of culture on organizational performance. Finally, we identify key mechanisms--homophily and social contagion--that virtually ensure the emergence of culture within almost any long-standing group. The second portion of the review examines the nature of complexity, emphasizing the concept of fitness. The mapping between all possible traits and the resulting fitness value is referred to as a fitness landscape. Such landscapes range in their complexity from decomposable (each trait contributes to fitness independently of the state of other traits) to highly rugged (individual traits contribute to fitness only through interaction with other traits, such as the ingredients in a recipe). For individuals facing a rugged landscape, imitation proves to be a sensible approach for increasing fitness. The main conceptual scheme of the paper is then presented: that a strong culture offers informing benefits that extend beyond the obvious contribution of shared attributes that directly support informing, such as a positive attitude towards education. The argument presented focuses on how culture can enhance search of a complex landscape through imitation. The paper then discusses practical issues relating to building a culture that facilitates informing. Although cultures tend to emerge, rather than being designed, ineffective or inconsistent leadership can undermine the development of a strong culture. Where a group perceives its environment to be static, the very processes that lead to a strong culture can produce a culture that becomes over-constrained, one in which individuals abandon the search for higher fitness. And, of course, there is the ever-present danger that a culture may adopt values antithetical to informing, particularly with respect to individuals outside of the group. In concluding, the paper proposes that a better understanding of the relationship between culture and complexity may help us avoid such barriers to informing in the future. …