#005 Put Your Values To Work
All too often, values sit as dusty items in a folder somewhere. But these artefacts of deep thinking can serve a much higher purpose.
“Because it felt like the right thing to do”.
These are the words I often hear when asking people, why did you do that thing in that particular way? Or, why did you make that decision?
When it comes to the nitty-gritty of our work, there are endless micro-decisions to make — too many to call a meeting over, too many to talk through.
At the same time, often when an organisation or community begins, there’s a lot of work put into defining a set of shared values that underpin its culture and point of difference.
And then…?
Well, they kind of get forgotten.
Imagine if words like ‘integrity’ weren’t just jaded phrases that get abused by people who never act with any. Imagine if, instead, they were used to measure what good work looks like in an organisation or community.
I’ve been thinking about the ways that values can be brought out of storage and used as an active part of your organisation. Here’s what I’ve got so far.
So, what’s the big idea?
Essentially, instead of your organisational values being something that’s on the periphery of your day-to-day — whether they’re looked at once and never again during onboarding, or more literally posted around the office and on meeting room doors — put them at the centre of your work.
What we value, we measure — no pun intended.
If your values are truly what your organisation cares most about, it makes sense to use them as a lens wherever you can. This could include:
- A decision making mechanism or guidelines
- The basis for your code of conduct, or membership criteria for a community
- Unique and delightful touch points on your customer journey map, or service blueprint
- An evaluation rubric for your projects or team(s)
- Performance criteria for your organisations leaders
I’ve created some rough examples of how this might play out as a customer journey map or decision making structure above, using my own Small Fires as an example. You’re welcome to look in more detail or make a copy of the slides here.
Getting Started
Have a look at the values that your organisation has in place and reflect on how they’re being used today.
If you don’t have any set values defined for your team, organisation or community, here’s a process I love following to co-create some.
Assuming you have some values, are they referenced at all in decision-making or reflection? If not, perhaps have a look at what you are using as reference points or guidance for key decisions and reflections. Is there a way to combine what you’re already doing with your values?
Are there other areas where they could be brought in as a guide, also? Perhaps at your next strategy meeting, or goal setting workshop.
Your values don’t have be a perfect fit for any of these things, but even the process of putting overlapping your values with reality will draw attention to where you might be forgetting them, or able to do more.
Conversation Starters
If you need some ways to open the conversation with peers, seniors or even your own internal dialogue, here are some things you could ask:
- How do we empower and guide people to make decisions in our organisation?
- Through what lenses are we holding ourselves to account?
- How do we assess performance or measure success in our organisation?
- Do we reflect on attitudes and process, or just outputs and outcomes? For example, is how we do a thing as important as what was done?
- Which values are we living? Which are just words?
Going Further
Embedding your values into your work? Well done! I’d love to hear if you’re using them in ways different or complementary to the few we listed above, either in the comments below or via email here.
I’d love to see organisations who’ve already done this start reporting on it more publicly. All too often, reporting is dollars-driven and the conversations about how we maintain what’s most important is left by the wayside. By showing what you stand for, and that it’s important enough to measure and put into action, you’re setting an important precedent for other organisations out there. Show off your hard work and let us know where we can find it.
