I’m a big believer in values. I think they’re what provides direction for us on a day to day basis. They’re what we rely on when we have a difficult decision to make. When we make a decision that doesn’t reflect our values then we know it because we get that uncomfortable feeling that won’t go away. When we judge people we’re often using our values as the benchmark. When we use our instinct we’re doing it quickly.
Businesses talk about values a lot but in my humble opinion they rarely get it. They fail to understand that businesses are just a collection of people who have their own opinions, their own values, their own motivations. These people are like smart materials. Smart materials change shape when exposed to external stimuli such as stress and heat. People are the same. When put under even a small amount of pressure they bend and appear to have changed, but underneath it all they’re still the same and as soon as those external forces are taken away they revert to what they really are.
So, if businesses are a collection of people then business values need to reflect personal values. They need to understand what people value in order to describe what the business values. I think it’s pretty straightforward although it took me my first thirty years to work it out and the next ten years to explain it poorly. I’m hoping I’m now in the decade where I explain myself adequately. The one word answer is ‘happiness‘ but don’t be put off by the term – it’s a serious and complex business, happiness.
