Can you get “new” values?

On 17 March ABC announced their “new” values of Integrity, Respect, Collegiality, and Innovation. In the announcement was the following paragraph:

“…Whilst the embedding of the values will be a long term process, activity will commence shortly to assist the ABC in moving more towards a values-based culture. These activities include workshops and policy and system redevelopment, based on the values…

“Activity will commence shortly” – now there is a phrase that has delivered shivers down more than one organisation workforce’s collective spine.

As I have said in my previous commentary on values here and here, I think it’s important for people and organisations to be conscious of the values trap. Just because you say them doesn’t make them so, and trying to embed values that you don’t actually hold can be a recipe for disaster.

It is more seamless (and more authentic) to understand the values you have and then work really hard to make them valuable.

When I was working in the US, one of my clients had a reputation and (as it turns out) a value set that was fairly brutal and aggressive. A lot of people found it a tough place to work, but for the “right” people – the ones who embraced head on, in-your-face competition it was nirvana.

However, beyond the people, the aggressive nature was a key ingredient in the way their company operated and succeeded. Now aggression would not be on any top 10 list of desired values, and it sure had its downsides, but it was key to the organisation and trying to change that value would probably have imploded the company.

So back to ABC – I don’t know what their values would be if they were to approach them from a point of what is authentic, not what they wish they were, but I do suspect they may look different.

I am also not saying that the values they listed are not good values – any organisation would love to be one where integrity and respect rule, where collegiality binds teams and where innovation is the driver.

The problem is when we assign alturism not realism to our values, we risk not seeing who we really are – and as we all know, pretense is all but impossible to maintain for the long haul.

See you next week.

Alignment is Michel’s passion. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia, and Brand Alignment Group in the United States, she helps organisations align who they are, with what they do and say to build more authentic and sustainable brands.

To see more Michel Hogan blogs, click here.