Two rules for getting to your real values
Here are the two fundamental rules for uncovering and articulating your organisation’s values:
Talk to your people.
Use their language.
Skip either of these steps and you end up with values like these:
Integrity
Honesty
Excellence
What’s wrong with integrity, honesty and excellence, we hear you ask?
What business wouldn’t want to be run on the basis of integrity, honesty and excellence?
Well, quite.
Values like honesty, integrity and excellence are what’s known as “table-stakes” values.
They’re the bare minimum you need to bring to the table if you want to play. Which can make people wonder that something’s up if you need to shout about them.
One good test to see if your values are of the table-stakes variety is to apply the “As Opposed To?” test.
Integrity, honesty and excellence? As opposed to mendacity, dishonesty and mediocrity?
Would any organisation ever admit to not being run with integrity, honesty and excellence at its core?
Talk to your employees
The only way to avoid falling into the table-stakes trap is to talk to your employees.
They know what really gets recognised and rewarded in your organisation.
They also know what matters most to them.
In short, your employees own your values.
If you impose a set of values on your people rather than asking them what they value, you’ll end up with values they don’t recognise as true.
And you’ll look like every other company, with the same old values that don’t capture what makes your place special.
At best, your values will be a wish-list.
At worst, they’ll be so off-kilter — so different from what your people see around them every day — that all they’ll do is breed scepticism among those you’re forcing them on.
Other table stakes values to steer clear of
By the way, other “table-stakes” values we see a lot are:
Trust (as opposed to distrust?)
Honesty (as opposed to dishonesty?)
Respect (as opposed to disrespect?)
Passion (as opposed to nonchalance?)
Accountability (as opposed to immunity?)
Customer-satisfaction (as opposed to customer dissatisfaction?)
Collaboration (as opposed to obstructiveness?)
Transparency (as opposed to secretiveness?)
