Our blog has always encouraged robust responses and interactions. So, at least we’re consistent

nice outcome!

my question about valuing interaction and conversation is related to your “robust” style of critique. one, you jumped to a conclusion about where I was coming from that was not constructive of engagement with me. two, i think some people (not me, it seems) won’t have the nerve to take you on in such a robust way… which begs a futher question (which truly fascinstes me): How can we have robust, honest conversation without (silencing) or leaving some people behind, who find it difficult to participate in robust tones…

regarding how values are passed on, i agree that stories convey, teach and inspire us to embrace values. i remember mike (or was it aiden) blogging about a company where an employer asked questions about the director’s flashy new car… enquiring about who gets to benefit from hard work in the company… that story has continued to inspire me to value transparency in the organisation in which i serve.

the difficult thing is that those same stories can (and all to often) become the very things that limit growth. “but that’s the way we’ve always done it” is a story which seems to connect with some innate faithfulness in people to the status quo which is hugely frustrating for me.

which raises all sorts of further questions…

who decides what the core values of an organisation should/will be?

who should those values benefit? or, who benefits from those values?

is there a correlation between the stated values of the organisation and the acutal lived out values that in unspoken ways direct and determine decisions and ways of working? in fact, should we not start by asking “what are the values that shape us?” before we develop a “wish list”?

blah blah… i’m afraid this man doth protest too much.

but finally, just to clarify, i value the work that TT is doing, and more importantly that way that you are doing it! gracias!

Your last question first: this forum has always been a forum for robust interactions. Questioning your comment is in no way indicating that we do want engaging discussion. In fact, it surely indicates precisely the opposite, does it not?

Anyway, thanks for the clarification. I agree that the concept of corporate “values” typically ends up being a wish list, rather a statement of reality for most companies. And, I suppose in that case, one possible approach to ensuring companies actually act out the values that they put on their CEO’s wall, is to ensure that they consciously and actively understand those values at a definition level.

I think, though, that this approach would ultimately fail. Values are imparted not through strict definitions, but through culture. Culture is passed on and imparted through stories. Think of how families develop values – they talk about “how things are done around here”. In home, there are constant conversations that start with “Codringtons do…” or “Codringtons don’t…”. Our children have the opportunity to add to this narrative by their questions and their contributions to these conversations.

This is probably how it should be done in the corporate world, too. This will take more time than an hour long town hall meeting to present the values in a PowerPoint presentation.

So, you and are in violent agreement about what outcomes we’d prefer.

Thanks for the contribution.

i think my point was exactly your point. I’m not an HR person trying to bomb the conversation with pedantics. I’m a non-profit based operator (who thinks Values-based leadership is the only true leadership) with a concern that corporates are simply learning a different speak (“values-driven leadership” – what will the next fad be?) but it’s lots of nice words but NO VALUE!!!!

(hey i’m sure Yves is a class guy, but personal niceness doesn’t ensure that organisations aren’t doing harm)

I think that if the corporates were really serious about value-based leadership, they wouldn’t like where it would take them…

so, i’m cynical about the letter to the CEO. the companies four values sound nice. they mean well I’m sure, but i’d like to ask him about the pay differenital between his directors and the lowest paid staff, in a country where the Gini coeffecient suggests the gap between rich and poor is growing at an alarming (unarrested) rate.

my “pedanitc” questions were asked in a quest for clarity so that the committment to these values can be measured by an outside observer.

also, so we’ve discovered that motivating staff with nice sounding “values” (as if the previous motivator – the bottom line – is no longer a companies primary goal) is really effective. makes them feel like they’re working for a company that “really making a difference in the world” – but it’s potentially abusive. Yves may never intend it in that way, but somewhere down the food-chain some manager will certainly use the word “trust” is a manner not quite like the Directors intended…

p.s. Graeme, i think if you value conversation, you should proceed with caution. does tmtd.biz value curiosity? and is this a forum for engaging discussion or a marketing tool for your company?

Thank you for making a contribution to this blog site. However, I think your response demonstrates clearly some of the problems within current corporates.

We spend so much time pedantically defining our terms, and questioning/devaluing people’s contributions on the basis of their knowledge of “corporate speak”, that we often actually miss the point entirely.

Your argument about what is a value, what is a characteristic, what is a skill, what is a talent, etc, is a well worn HR tactic for deviating attention from real value adding.

Sure, you’re probably right about what is a value, and what is a characteristic. But what is your point? And what difference does it make?

Graeme

In a “whats in it for me” Generation, rather than trust being a motivational key to leardership, I would assume that it is money. Alot of “kids” in the work force no days were in high school seeing 20 somethings make a killing with companies called Kozmo.com , amazon.com google.com etc. They saw an avenue for a quick buck with less effort. As we business models move try and move back into a bricks and mortars scenario, one can imagine, can the two great business ideas co exist?

I had the opportunity to work directly with one of the legands in the Hotel Industry (colgate Holmes) and he mentioned.. There is a difference between a warm body anda hotelier. Took me over 10 years to notice and this was after i was out of the industry and a paying customer at hotels… How do we work with these 4 values based on a Generation of y/zers that do not embrace hard work ethics and not be just a warm body?

i think that the only real value here is integrity.

diversity isn’t properly a value. you may value diversity, but then “valuing diversity” is the value. diversity is just a description of how one experiences things (or doesn’t..) to say that “diversity” is a value doesn’t say anything about what it is about diversity is valued.

trust is not a value, it’s a state of being. trustworthiness or trustfulness might be considered a value that is held by a person or an organisational structure.

and Quality is certainly not a value. Excellence might be a value that results in high quality, but “quality” (like diversity) says nothing about that nature of the quality that is valued.

I think these four words are fairly meaningless without qualification. do they appear in the organisations mission-statement in sentences giving clarity about how thay are VALUED?

I have a definition for integrity not disimilar to the writer’s, but perhaps framed in a more concrete form – integrity for me is synchronicity for me between one’s thoughts, deeds and actions…what you think should be what you say and therefore what you do. I think this is where so many people in today’s “ratrace” go wrong.

Interestingly enough, perhaps the writer could share his thoughts on the link between values and generational theory. So many times I have heard that “young people these days have no loyalty and no values”…and it is a mindset I find myself constantly battling with as the conversation facilitator amongst different parties in our business.

Thank you for the thought provoking nature of this article.