Confessions of a Values Skeptic
aka How Not to Mess Up a Good Thing
I’m one of those people that roll their eyes when they hear the term “Company Values”.
Even writing the words, I feel my digital gag reflex kicking into action.
I can picture it now. Inspiring words (or anemic platitudes) plastered on the company career website, stenciled into office signage, embroidered on throwaway swag. Born as a last ditch effort to cure toxic behavior, occasionally used to inspire, but frequently wielded as a weapon instead of a shield. Sound familiar?
It isn’t that I don’t buy into the idea that a healthy culture is key to successful companies, or that culture stems from shared values. It’s that I’ve seen very few examples of values done right. Where they are more than corporate veneer. Where people genuinely “live” the values **gag** at all levels of the organization. Too often it is just words, not action, and the values become an insincere, demotivating spectacle.
And so during my initial conversations with the team at Pluralsight, I found it unusual (aka: weird / suspicious) how much the values came up in the interview process. Like, a lot. Like I half wondered if my interviewers were secretly playing Values Bingo. Mentioned all five values in a conversation? Bingo!
It wasn’t just the recruiter, or the interviewing team. Everyone I talked to — friends of friends, even Pluralsight customers — mentioned it. “I’ve heard they have an amazing culture — they’re big into their Values.” Holy understatement, Batman.
It’s in the language that they speak. “Seek context with intention” or “let’s create with possibility.” They aren’t mocking it, they’re using it as a common language and the way they agree to treat each other. For real. All the damn time.
Here’s the full list, if you’re curious:
Seek Context With Intention
Committed to Something Bigger
Be Our Word
Create With Possibility
Accountable for Excellence
Unsurprisingly, I found the earnestness weird. Hell, 16 weeks in and I still find it weird! And weirder yet, unexpectedly pleasant!
It turns out that when people trust each other, they are more likely to work together to achieve a goal vs. trying to beat each other. It turns out assuming good intent frees you to shed politics and paranoia. It turns out creating a shared expectation of how others will show up at work causes people to try their best. People that don’t want to take advantage or beat the system, they want to protect it. Because — as the great Sarah Doss says on Day 1 of new hire orientation — “don’t mess up this good thing we’ve got going.”
Even us skeptical cynics begrudgingly go along with it. We assume good intent, seek context, remain humble, strive for something bigger.
Now I’m not going to pretend that everything is solved through shared values. We are still human, and have good days and bad days. We stumble through the ambiguity that comes with growing fast — hazy role clarity, reorgs, messiness — and yes we sometimes get frustrated and disappointed. It isn’t all hunky dory. But — because we trust that no one is trying to take advantage — it somehow just works.
I won’t screw it up if you don’t.
