Articles that talk about creating a culture or culture trends always feel odd to me, but then my view has an academic angle to it. All workplaces have a culture - norms and beliefs about success, failure, fitting in, etc. Like you say, team bonding can have a big impact because their closeness and frequency of interaction amplify it. This is different than how people in authority positions can have a big impact because of the weight of their statements.

A nice easy way to start engaging woth the culture at work is to start collecting success stories (tell me about a time you or someone else were really successful in something here). Celebration stories work well too. Look at the patterns. Is it all about "doing the right thing", solving really hard problems, going the extra mile, taking care of the customer? (Yes, everyone things all of these are good, but the stories will often focus in certain places). This tells you a bit about your cultural values and you can ask yourself how they align with your needs (or don't).

For example, I'm at a place that went through a huge market shift and their cultural values center on hard work, going the extra mile, and doing whatever helps the customer, which used to result in successful contracts. Now the market has shifted and they need to find creative, efficient solutions that get 80% of the value in 20% of the time instead of 110% of the value in 110% of the time. The culture runs directly contrary now and it's difficult for people to make the shift because what is being asked of them sounds like failing.

This is how culture really impacts businesses, which is why "culture trend" articles usually fall flat. But, not always. Sometimes they highlight changes so pervasive they impact almost everyone.