Can’t Agree on Values? Follow the Process
What leader wouldn’t want to be surrounded by people with passion? It’s an invisible fire that inspires conviction and even loyalty.
The problem with passion is that it can make people irrational. They can’t think clearly and can be criticized for “not seeing the forest for the trees.”
When it comes to identifying an organization’s Core Values, passion can get in the way of a rational assessment of what matters most. With values, this often leads to one of three negative outcomes:
- Nothing happens. No values get selected or implemented.
- Too many values. To appease everyone, the organization adopts 7, 9, 11 or even 19 values (yes, I found a company that has that many values). This leads to ineffective values because no one can remember them (and they are quickly forgotten)
- Settling on a few very broad-based values. Having ambiguous values is almost as bad as having too many values. (For example, I found a company with just 3 values but the definitions covered all 17 Common Values, and more!)
So what causes this irrational passion?
Individuals often refuse to budge from a stated position for many different reasons, such as:
- A history with the organization where they long to create what used to be.
- A strong desire for something new and different than exists today.
- A strong belief in their own viewpoint or opinion and can’t see the bigger picture.
- Arrogance (often linked to unhealthy pride or overconfidence).
- Fear of making a mistake (which causes inertia).
NOTE: none of this suggests bad people.
The passion possessed by such individuals just needs to be properly channeled through an effective process.
Process to Select Core Values
The following process is what I use to help leaders identify and select their Core Values. It’s proven and it works.
Step-1: Select two values (maximum three) from the list of 17 Common Values.
As leaders, only select values that can be associated with punishment. As a radical example, people need to feel they might get fired for violating a Core Value – including the CEO. If there is no punishment, then don’t select it.
In other words, which two or three values out of the list of 17 Common Values, really matter AND map to the strengths of the organization? Which ones are truly part of the organization’s culture?
Yes, all 17 Common Values matter. Yes, there is an argument to include every one of them as part of the Core Values. But in my experience, there is NO way the organization is doing a great job at all of them. How do I know? Just ask the employees.
Step-2: Select the top three differentiating values (ideally only one).
As outlined in my eBook Developing Your Differentiating Values, these are values that define a unique positioning and competitive advantage that will build the business and the brand. They highlight the strengths of the organization and the unique culture. These are also the values used to hire new talent. Ideally, having a single Differentiating Value identifies the ONE thing that sets the organization apart from competitors and/or others in its industry. For example, Volvo is known for Safety, and 3M is known for Innovation.
This step is about following a process of refining down from a large set of values (e.g. the 423 outlined in my eBook) and using a stepped approach to filter out the top three Differentiating Values.
When the leaders of an organization are ready to stand up and clearly state: “this is who we are” and “this is what we want to be known for”, then they are defining their Differentiating Value(s).
Step-3: Refine and define the Core Values.
This last step is about bringing the two selected sets of values together – Common Values + Differentiating Values. Note: there should be a maximum of six values now, ideally less.
Here, it’s very helpful to take the time to describe what these values mean (but not define yet). List a bunch of bullets for each value of how it can be seen in action today. Include previous decisions and/or behaviors that highlight this value in action.
Then through a facilitated discussion, these values should be evaluated for potential redundancies to see where one can be folded in under another value. But this will likely only reduce the number of values by one (maybe two).
The final facilitated discussion is around prioritizing them, such as: “If you could only pick one Differentiating Value, which one would you pick?” or “Is this value real or wishful thinking” (see Aspirational Values below)
This final stage in the process requires a bit of push to force the leadership team to select only three values – which together become the organization’s Core Values. Only at this point does it make sense to then define the final set of Core Values.
NOTE: This 3-Step process is actually quite simple. But it’s not easy.
The reason many organizations seek third-party help here is because it can be very difficult to decide which values to NOT select. But it can be done, and there are some wonderful examples of companies that have carefully selected three Core Values that truly are making a difference, inside and out.
One Final Point
Don’t focus on what “should be”. Focus on what is.
Core Values must reflect existing behavior and decision-making, and the current culture. If not, employees will consider the stated values a joke and ignore them.
However, those values that leaders “wish” the organization possessed can be listed as Aspirational Values (as outlined by Patrick Lencioni in his book The Advantage). These are values the leaders have identified as strategically important and desire to develop within the organization in the future.
But Aspirational Values are NOT part of Core Values.
