Could a single corporate value be enough?
Having a strong set of values can give you the confidence to know your employees will be doing the right thing— even when you’re not there to guide them.
So your values are the link between what you want to achieve and the employee behaviours that will help you achieve it.
But how many values does your org actually need?
We’ve seen examples of companies with a long list of 12 or 14 different values.
But if the purpose of values is to have your people focused on the right things, pointing those people in 14 different directions is a recipe for confusion.
It’s also likely to be a symptom of a lack of unity among the leadership team who came up with such a long list.
So when working with clients to uncover and articulate their shared values, we always advise them to hone them down to three, max.
We are strong believers in the power of three.
Blood, sweat and tears.
I came, I saw, I conquered.
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
It’s as if the brain is hotwired to remember things in threes.
Any more than three values and your people will find it hard to recall them— let alone live them through their work.
We know, because we’ve seen it happen. By the time it gets to listing the fourth value, people will invariably stumble as they try to bring it to mind (unless it’s something spectacularly memorable like Give a shit).
But what if even three were more than enough? What if you could get away with just one value? A single, unifying principle that tells people exactly what you expect of them?
There’s a great example of just that in Made to Stick, the brilliant guide to communication by Chip and Dan Heath.
The Heath brothers tell the story of the proprietor of a local newspaper in the US, who gives his employees a one guiding principle to live and work by:
names, names, names
This principle is founded on an understanding of why people read their local paper: to spot their own name or the names of people they know.
So if you’re a reporter, with every story, your goal will be to speak to and quote as many local people as possible.
If you’re a photographer and you’ve been sent to snap the opening of a library, you’ll be sure to rally a crowd in front of that shiny new building.
We love names, names, names — and not just because it uses the rule of three to underscore a single principle.
But also because it’s so concrete. In the wrong hands, names, names, names could so easily have become something like think local, which captures the same idea, but in a much less obvious way.
Names, names, names tells the newspaper’s employees exactly what they need to do and how to do it.
Could one value be enough for your team too?
Want to uncover your org’s core value(s)? Book a time to chat to us!
