Better research depends on making sustained improvements to our day-to-day practices. But our habits are shaped by the broader culture in which we do research: how we evaluate quality, how we support careers, how we recognise the varied contributions made to research and, most important of all, how well aligned all these values are across institutions, funders, and the wider sector. A sustainable positive culture is built by acting on a small number of levers that will help to change behaviours across the system.