An inspiring set of values…

I have just been reading the 2015 Annual Report for CDC, the UK’s development finance institution. It’s a good read (seriously) showing how the UK use development lending to drive change.

As someone really interested in organisational change and culture I was struck by CDC’s set of ‘identities’, pasted below. Inspiring, I thought….

Compassion is central to everything we do.

We work so that people in Africa and South Asia have good, stable jobs that offer them and their families a better future.

We owe our clients and prospective clients a fast and thoughtful process.

We try to provide valuable and candid insight even if the answer is no.

We accept the tough challenges inherent in our mission.

Yet we understand where risks become untenable and are driven by quality rather than volume.

We are quick and non-defensive when things go wrong.

We are tenacious and take as much pride from fixing problems as celebrating what goes right.

We oppose bureaucracy.

We believe in hiring great people with judgement and creating efficient processes they respect to help them get to the right answers.

We never forget that we are investing and spending taxpayers’ money.

We are open and transparent because we recognise that taxpayers have a right to know where their money is invested.

We promote a fulfilling work environment.

Every person at CDC contributes to the mission and our work environment. We believe in high standards and hard questions from any source, and humility whilst being supportive to each other.