Discovering Values At Insight Innovation Conference

This week I attended a conference on Insight Innovation, called IIeX2015. Typically, this is a conference for those involved in the field of market research.

But over the past few years, this conference has grown significantly (surpassing 700 people), attracting new people interested in the gathering of customer insights, software developers who see new market opportunities, and consultants looking to add value to clients through new partnerships.

I found the conference enlightening on many fronts, including a focus on values.

IIeX Conference Highlights

Here’s a quick snapshot of a few things I found of interest.

• Insight Innovation Competition. Similar to how entrepreneurs pitch to prospective VCs, a selected group of start-ups got five minutes each to present their business model to a panel of judges. It was a great way to see the kind of innovation happening right now in market research. The winner – Fetch Rewards – received $25,000.
• Client Panel. While it’s great to hear what companies like Keurig Green Mountain, eBay, McDonald’s, and Coca-Cola are looking for from their marketing research partners, the best part was the Q&A. The topic was labeled “Becoming Partners” but the questions posed to the panelists – and the responses – clearly highlighted a number of client-agency issues that remain unresolved (maybe an incongruence of values?). To me, it suggested opportunities exist to develop new models of collaboration built around clearly defined values.
• Values Everywhere. I was thrilled to hear a number of speakers talk about the role of values in decision-making, including:
  • John McGarr, President of Fresh Squeezed Ideas, talked about shifts occurring in consumer values, highlighting opportunities that exist for businesses to fill the vacancy that arise with new values. Of particular interest was the importance of business strategy being aligned with values, encouraging participants to “Be a Force for Good”.
  • Mary Meehan, co-founder of Panoramix Global, presented her new innovative approach (called Metametrix, currently in beta). Her proprietary tool would allow business leaders to quickly and efficiently understand consumer values, market needs, and cultural contexts, thereby assessing business risks and opportunities.
  • Ryan Patel, VP Development at Pinkberry, talked about the importance of core values for startups. He said this is especially applicable when trying to grow a business through franchising and/or engaging interested parties in new countries, where you have little control over anything other than your brand. In such cases, values become everything.

Discovering a Differentiating Value at Lowe’s

The final speaker at the IIeX conference was Tanya Franklin, Director of Trends & Marketplace Insights at Lowe’s Home Improvement. She spoke about “Innovating From the Inside Out” referencing the importance of having the right people inside an organization who will be implementing the new innovations.

This was music to my ears.

After the conference I spoke with Ms. Franklin and asked her if she could define in one word what makes Lowe’s unique. Without hesitation she said “Pioneering Spirit.” (Ok, that was two words).

Impressed, I asked how Lowe’s arrived at this term.

Ms. Franklin said a few years ago a cross-sectional team was established to identify the unique characteristics of the company. Since Lowe’s is a challenger brand (Home Depot is #1 in the home improvement category), they concluded that what was needed to create competitive advantage was the need to be clear about what makes Lowe’s unique.

The net result? The term “Pioneering Spirits” was identified as the key characteristic of the type of talent they are trying to attract.

Personally, I view this as their key differentiating value. But sadly it’s not included in their list of stated values.

On the Lowe’s website, they list a wordy proclamation about their vision and values. And buried deep in this verbose statement is a listing of six values – customer-focused, ownership, respect, teamwork, passion for execution and integrity – all of which fit within the 17 Common Values that all businesses share.

So where is the reference to Pioneering Spirits? Why not include this key characteristic used to hire new talent?

In follow up correspondence with Ms. Franklin, she made it clear that this term should not be confused with Lowe’s core values, which, as she stated, “are core to the type of company we are and what we aspire to everyday.” She said the term “Pioneering Spirits” is used only to describe the personalities of the people they would like to work at Lowe’s.

This explains why I could only find reference to this term on Lowe’s Careers page. Though, I also found reference to it on a few of their job postings on LinkedIn (but why not all job postings?).

From my viewpoint, I believe it would be to Lowe’s advantage if they dumped most of their current values – keeping only one or two that they’re prepared to fire someone for violating – and add in Pioneering Spirit. It would also be helpful to clearly define what these values mean.

Now, that would be “pioneering” in the area of setting core values that make a difference.

Recommendations for Lowe’s

If Lowe’s were to indeed adopt a Pioneering Spirit as a differentiating value, as I recommend, it would need to permeate every part of their business, including:

• Making it part of the hiring criteria for all employees.
• Incorporating into employee reviews.
• Reprimanding and/or firing those who discourage or hinder this value.
• Weaving it into reward and recognition programs.
• Encouraging the sharing of supporting stories that foster development of a new corporate mythology.
• Incorporate into the brand promise, and all communications (internal and external).
• Establish key language cues from customers to ensure the brand experience maps to the brand promise.
• Regularly assess how Lowe’s compares to competitors on this value, in the minds of customers, employees, and investors.
• Continually evolve this value to keep it fresh, relevant, and timely in the hearts and minds of every employee – and every leader.

Based on my discussion with Ms. Franklin, it appears that Lowe’s is already well down this path. Now, imagine if they not only incorporated this as a core value, but also made it their key differentiating value.

 

Should Lowe’s adopt ‘Pioneering Spirit’ as a core value? What impact might this have?