UNHCR’s organisational culture has transformed from its humble, family-like beginnings into a fragmented bureaucratic system, characterised by tension between inherited values and modern institutional demands. In its early days, the High Commissioner served as a paternal figure within a close-knit workforce, fostering loyalty, solidarity, and identity. This “family culture” created strong bonds but also posed risks of favouritism, exclusion, and blurred professional boundaries. As the organisation expanded through the 1970s–1990s into a global operational entity, its culture shifted towards a bureaucratic “Eiffel Tower” model characterised by hierarchy, rules, and formal procedures. However, traces of the original ethos persisted, resulting in a lasting tension between relational solidarity and structural rigidity. Survey data, testimonies, and psychometric findings reveal how this hybrid culture both inspires commitment and contributes to disengagement, burnout, and mistrust. Efforts to reconcile family and bureaucratic traditions under the banner of “principled pragmatism” have often descended into expediency, undermining protection principles and staff morale. The chapter concludes that UNHCR’s identity crisis stems from unresolved cultural contradictions—notably between mission and method, ideals and practice, solidarity and self-preservation.