Values and living what you say you believe
Image credit: Jon Tyson on Unsplash
In much of our work helping organizations build better cultures, we spend time exploring values and how they translate into daily behavior. We co-create these value statements with teams, drawing people into meaningful conversations about what truly matters. The challenge comes when they need to come off the page.
The Gap Between Words and Actions
I shocked someone a while ago when I said that “there's such a lot of nonsense talked about values”.What I meant was that values are just words, until you take the trouble to think about what they represent. And how you experience them.
It’s not what you do…
Take an organisational restructure we heard about a year ago. A common complaint from staff was that this was 'against our values' of compassion and belonging. But here's the thing: organisations don't have values - people do. Leadership is responsible for articulating those values and setting the codes of behavior that align with them.
Values apply not to what you do, but the way that you do it. So a restructuring is a neutral act. The way in which that restructuring is undertaken will demonstrate the values of the people involved. A wholesale dismantling of a team at a week's notice with complete disregard for people involved would be against values of compassion and belonging. On the other hand, the HR team could go out of their way to make sure that the timing, communication, and processes involved are considered, supportive and positive as possible. That would be aligned with compassion and belonging.
What it looks like in practice
So if you're finding it difficult to get started on building your culture, go beyond the value statement to think about what behaviours represent those values. Articulate what 'values in action' looks like in practical terms, and understand what you're trying to achieve.
Ask yourself ‘how would someone know from being with us that these are the things that matter to us’? It’s the experience that counts.
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