Flags & Wallpaper: the value of values
The ironic thing about values is that every organisation values them differently.
Company values, brand values, character values, team values, employee values. There are then principles, beliefs and core ethics. And that’s before you’ve gotten to purpose, vision, mission, promise, customer value proposition, employee value proposition, positioning, and something I recently heard called organising utility.
What does it all mean?
Language allows us to do more than describe something: it allows us to give meaning to something.
Values themselves need to have application. Just like culture in general, they can quickly become an exercise in wordsmithing, pedantry and wallpaper.
Keep it simple. Look in, look out and look together.
Look in - Organisational Values
What does our best day look like? What could it look like?
What do we admire in our best performers? How can we demonstrate this to all?
What’s critical for our commercial success? Which of these are unique to us?
Avoid: integrity, honesty, teamwork, trust, getting the work done, hustle, sleeves up.
Look out - Brand Values
What do we want our customers to say when we’re not in the room?
What do we want to be famous for?
How should people feel when they engage with our brand?
Avoid: brand personalities - these are a great starting point but aren’t really grounded in much more than a tone of voice.
Look together - Common Purpose
What’s the change we and our customers want to see around us?
What are the goals bigger than our bottom line that makes an impact on society?
How can we communicate and inspire action?
Avoid: using words you could never say to someone with them smirking at you.
This is a great starting point. Use some, use all. But just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
There have been too many hours of human time burned away filling in culture checklists like a colour-by-numbers exercise.
It goes back to what we suggested in the previous article on culture: they must influence communications, behaviours and the environment. More so, they should bring the company together in a meaningful way.
These aren’t words for wallpaper: but they are flags to lead by.