Today I had a great conversation with a client and friend about what things are truly self evident. The thought was posed that if something is a common truth to all humans, then as an organization you really shouldn't have to write it down, and if you did write it down, well, that speaks negatively of your organization.
A couple extreme examples might be:
- If you have to put, "Do not murder fellow employees" as part of your values. Well, then you have a very scary place to work considering you actually have to list that on your values.
- Or, if you are ever watching the news when they uncover a case of child neglect, and they find a witness or passer-by to give their thoughts on the situation and the passer-by responds with "I take care of my kids!" loudly and proudly as if they should win some kind of reward. And all of us watching at home are thinking, well of course you take care of your kids, right? I mean what parent has to proclaim that kind of obvious value?
So, if an organization puts honesty as a Core Value, is that the same thing? I mean, isn't that obvious? We don't have to write that down... do we?
I would argue that very few things, if anything, is so self evident that we can avoid to communicate it as a truth.
I would argue that very few things, if anything, is so self evident that we can avoid to communicate it as a truth.
As an organization your Core Values are things that are non-negotiable, the very moral compass all decisions are measured by. Which means that if honesty is a core value, and the CEO tells the secretary, to tell a caller, that he is not there, then the board would have to fire their CEO.
Values are things you hold onto, whether they are a strategic advantage or disadvantage for you to do so. You hire and fire based off of them. When an organization views values for what they are, as non-negotiable, then honesty usually falls right off the list.
So, are values really that self-evident that we can avoid writing them down and assume they are commonly known? Unfortunately, a resounding "No" is my response. It is not merely enough to have them, but they must be clearly and regularly communicated, no matter how common they may seem.
One of the greatest examples I have found of Core Values is in our Declaration of Independence as it states; "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." and what followed became the very basis for what America is. Those values are stated to be "self-evident" by their very authors. Yet, they had the forsight to write them down and clearly communicate them. May we learn from their example, both in our organizations and personal lives.
-Jon Bohm
Values are things you hold onto, whether they are a strategic advantage or disadvantage for you to do so. You hire and fire based off of them. When an organization views values for what they are, as non-negotiable, then honesty usually falls right off the list.
So, are values really that self-evident that we can avoid writing them down and assume they are commonly known? Unfortunately, a resounding "No" is my response. It is not merely enough to have them, but they must be clearly and regularly communicated, no matter how common they may seem.
One of the greatest examples I have found of Core Values is in our Declaration of Independence as it states; "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." and what followed became the very basis for what America is. Those values are stated to be "self-evident" by their very authors. Yet, they had the forsight to write them down and clearly communicate them. May we learn from their example, both in our organizations and personal lives.
-Jon Bohm
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